Scandinavian Relations with Ireland During the Viking Period

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LIBRARY

SCANDINAVIAN RELATIONS WITH IRELAND DURING

THE VIKING PERIOD

SCANDINAVIAN RELATIONS WITH IRELAND DURING

THE VIKING PERIOD BY A.

THE

WALSH

DUBLIN TALBOT PRESS LIMITED LONDON T.

FISHER UNWIN LIMITED

1922

PREFACE THIS short study was written during my tenure of a Travelling Studentship from the National University of Ireland, and in March, 1920, was accepted for the Research Degree Certificate of Cambridge University. A glance at the bibliography shows that comparatively little has been written in English on this interesting period of our history. On the other hand modern Scandinavian scholars Alexander Bugge, Marstrander, and Vogt have thrown a good deal of light on the subject, but unfortunately very few of their books have been translated into English. The present dissertation is based principally upon the Old and Middle Irish annals and chronicles and the Icelandic sagas

;

reference

has

also

made

been

to

the

work

of

Scandinavian, English and Irish scholars on the subject. I should like to acknowledge my debt to Professor

Chadwick, who directed my work those who have had the working under him will readily understand how much is due to his encouragement and stimulating criticism. :

privilege of

I wish also to express

my

thanks to

my

friends, Miss

N.

Kershaw and Mr. E. J. Thomas, for many kindnesses while the book was in preparation to Miss Eleanor Hull and ;

Professor

O'Maille, University College, Galway, for the loan of books ; and to the librarian and staff of Cambridge

University library, T.C.D. Library.

the National

library,

Dublin,

and

A.W.

CONTENTS PAGE

PREFACE Chap. I.

II.

THE VECINGS

IN

IRELAND (795-1014)

1

INTERCOURSE BETWEEN THE GAILL AND THE GAEDHIL DURING THE VIKING PERIOD

III.

THE GROWTH OF THE SEAPORT TOWNS

IV.

THE EXPANSION OF

IRISH

TRADE

AND SEAFARING

V. SHIPBUILDING

VI. LINGUISTIC INFLUENCES

VII.

(a)

Loan-words from Old Norse in

(b)

Gaelic

(c)

Irish

Words

Irish.

Old Norse Literature. Influence on Icelandic Place-nomenclature. in

THE VIKINGS AND THE CELTIC CHURCH

VIII. LITERARY INFLUENCE.

IRELAND BIBLIOGRAPHY

47

THE SAGAS OF ICELAND AND 57

...

77

Scandinavian Relations with Ireland during the Viking Period. CHAPTER

THE VIKINGS THE

Vikings

made

IN

I.

IRELAND

(795-1014).

their first appearance 1

on the

Irish

coasts in 795 A.D., when they plundered and burned the church on Recru, or kambay Island, near Dublin. During

the next ten or twelve years Ireland seems to have been almost free from further attacks, but in 807 they descended

on

Inis

their

Murray,

way

off

inland to

the Sligo coast, and from there made Roscommon. 8 After that the raids

ceased for a few years, then began again with renewed vigour on Connacht and Munster, on some of the inland counties of Leinster, and on several places along the east coast. 8

The arrival of Turgeis 4 (O.N. Thorgestr) in Armagh, about Hitherto the 832, marks a new phase of the invasions. Vikings had come in isolated parties solely for purposes 1 Zimmer was of the opinion that the Norsemen made their way He bases his theory to Ireland as early as the seventh century. on an entry in the Annals of Ulster and in certain other Irish annals " the devastation of Tory Island (under the year 617) recording by a marine fleet." (iiber die friihesten Beruhrungen der Iren mit den Nordgermanen, p. 279 ff. in Sitzungsberichte der kgl. preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. 1891. Bd. I., pp. 279-317.) But this attack is likely to have been due to Saxon or Pictish raiders rather than to the Norsemen. a

8

Annals of Annals of

the

Four Masters,

A.D. 807.

Ulster, A.D. 811, 820-824, 827, 830.

4 Some writers would identify Turgeis with Thorgils, son of Harold Fairhair, who with his brother Frothi went on a viking expedition to Ireland. They captured Dublin, and Thorgils reigned there for a long time as king. In the end, however, he was betrayed by the

THE VIKING PERIOD

2

"

of

plunder

;

nor,

however,

"

great

sea-cast

floods

of

landed in every harbour, and began to form in settlements various parts of the island. Dublin was first foreigners

836, and four years later the Norsemen strengthened their position there considerably by the erection of a longphort or fortress. From their longphort at Linn

occupied

Duachaill

in

(between Drogheda and Dundalk) built in the

year, they made their way to the West and plundered Clonmacnois, while settlers from Cael-uisce, near Newry went south and laid waste County KUdare. 1

same

The power

of Turgeis

was not confined to the north

of

were stationed on Loch Ree, the centre from which Meath and Connacht were devastated. His Ireland.

His

fleets

Ota (O.N. Authr), desecrated the monastery of Clonmacnois by giving her oracular responses (a frecartha) from the high altar.* The tyranny of Turgeis came to an end in 845, when he was captured by Maelsechnaill, who

wife,

afterwards became drd-ri, and was drowned in Lough Owel.* After his death the tide of battle turned in favour of the Irish, and the Norsemen were defeated in several battles. Weakened by warfare, they had to contend in 849 with an enemy from without the Dubh-Gaill* or Danes who had Irish and ch. 35-)

was

killed.

(

Heimskringla

:

Haralds saga hins hdrfagra,

This account of Thorgils certainly bears a resemblance to that chronicles and Giraldus Turgeis contained in the Irish Cambrensis (cf. Todd Introduction to War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill, I., ii.), but it is of course incorrect to say that Turgeis was a son of Harold Fairhair.

of

:

1

Annals of

*War -

3 *

Ulster,

A.D. 841.

of the Gaedhil with the Gaill, p. 13.

/6., p.

15.

The

Irish chron ; clers use a variety of names for the Scandinavians Dibearccai and (outlaws), GaiU (Gentiles), (foreigners), Gennti Paganaigh (Pagans). They also distinguish between Danes and

Norsemen.

:

The Danes were known

as Danair, Danmarcaigh,

Dubh

THE VIKINGS

IN IRELAND

round the south coast of England and landed in " to exercise authority over the foreigners who were there before them." Two years after their arrival the newcomers plundered the fortresses at Dublin and Dundalk, but were attacked in the following year on Carlingford Loch by the Norsemen. In this great naval battle, which lasted three days and three nights, the Danes were finally sailed

Ireland

victorious. 1

"

Amhlaoibh Conung, son

known

in

of

the King of Lochlann," came to

Icelandic sources as Olaf the White,

Ireland about 852 to rule over his countrymen, and to exact According to the Fragments of

tribute from the Irish. 2

Annals, he left suddenly and returned a few years later " accompanied by his younger brother, Imhar," Who may " the Boneless ") be identified with Ivarr Beinlausi (i.e., son of Ragnarr I/>thbr6k. Both kings ruled from Dublin, which town now gained a new importance as the seat of In 865 the Vikings the Scandinavian Kings in Ireland. extended their activities to Scotland, whence they carried off much plunder and many captives. An expedition on a larger scale was made by Olaf and Ivarr in 869, when Dumbarton, after a four months' siege, fell into their hands.

They returned in triumph to Ireland in the following year with a large number of English, British, and Pictish prisoners Gennti (Black Gentiles), and Dubh-Gaill. The \vordDubh-Gai'.l (Black Foreigners) still survives in the personal names Doyle and MacDowell and in the place-name Baldoyle. The Norsemen were called Finn-Gaill (Fair Foreigners), Finn-Genti, Nortmannai (L.at. Northmanni) and Lochlannaigh (i.e., men of Lochlann or Norway). 1 Annals of Ulster, A.D. 851 (= 852). *Three Fragments of Annals, p. 127. Vogt (Dublin som Norsk By, p. 66) suggests that Olaf was related to Turgeis, the first Norse King of Ireland, and to Barl Tomrair " tanist of the King of I^ochlann," who fell in the (O.N. Thorarr), battle of Scaith Neachtain (847). On the other hand it may be noted here that the Annalist errs in making Olaf a brother of Ivarr the Boneless.

THE VIKING PERIOD

4

and ended

their

victorious

march by the capture

ot

1

Dunseverick

(Co. Antrim). Olaf returned to Norway some time after this to take

1 part in the wars there, and we hear no more of him in the " Irish Annals. Imhar, King of the Norsemen of all Ireland

and Britain," did not long survive him his death is recorded under the year 873.* During the years which followed Ivarr's death the country was comparatively peaceful, and the Irish began to enjoy a rest from fresh invasions, which lasted about forty years.* The Danes and the Norsemen again began to quarrel among themselves, and once more their opposing fleets met on Carlingford Lough ;* in this battle Albann (O.N. Halfdanr), ;

brother of Ivarr, a well-known leader of the Vikings in Dissensions also spread among the England, was slain. ranks of the Dublin Norsemen, dividing them into two hostile parties,

one siding with Sitriucc, son of Ivarr, the This internal strife so

other with a certain Sighfrith. 6 1

Annals of

Ulster, A.D. 870.

*Three Fragments of Annals, p. 195. The Landndmabok, II., ch. " Olaf fell in battle in Ireland," but this is surely a 15 says that mistake. 9 Annals of Ulster, sub anno, 872 (= 873). Cf. War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill, p. 27. Cf. also the entries in the Annals of Ulster : " Ruaidhri, son of Muirmenn King of the Britons came to " Ireland, fleeing before the Black Foreigners (an. 876). " The shrine of Colum-Cille and all his relics were brought to Ireland to escape the Foreigners" (an. 877). The War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill (p. 27) mentions another battle between Fair and Black Gentiles, in which many of the latter were killed. * It is extremely difficult to identify these two princes owing to It has been suggested that the similarity between their names. Sighfrith is the Siefredus or Sievert who ruled jointly with GuthredCnut (d.c. 894) as King of Northumbria, while Sitriucc son of Ivarr is " " whose name appears on a coin dating Sitric comes probably the The Scandinavian Kingdom of from this period. (See A. Mawer Northumbria, pp. 11-13. Saga-book of the Viking Club, VII. Part I.) :

THE VIKINGS

IN IRELAND

5

weakened Norse power that the Irish captured the fortress at Dublin in 902, and drove the Vikings across the sea with great slaughter. forty years' rest terminated abruptly in 913, when several fleets arrived at Waterford and proceeded to ravage

The

In 916 Munster and Leinster. Raghnall (O.N. Rognvaldr), grandson of Ivarr, assumed command while his brother or cousin, Sihtric Gale (also nicknamed Caoch, all

'

came with a fleet to Cenn Fuaid, in the east of 1 Both chiefs Iveinster, and built a fortification there. the Niall united forces against drd-ri Glundubh, and having defeated him in battle Sihtric entered Dublin and became the Blind

')

In the following year the Irish under Niall made a brave stand at Kilmashogue, near Dublin, but Sihtric won a decisive victory, and Niall and twelve other

king

(918).

kings were

among

the slain.*

Scandinavian power in Ireland was

now

at

its

height.

the lakes in Ulster, so that no

I/arge fleets occupied all part of the surrounding territory

was safe from their attacks. *

The Vikings also retained their grip of the coast towns, and successfully withstood the efforts made by the Irish leaders to dislodge them.

Between the years 920 and 950 the

Dublin increased considerably through its connection with the Scandinavian Kingdom of Northumbria. Raghnall, grandson of Ivarr, captured York about 919* and reigned there until his death in 921.' He was succeeded

importance of

1

Annals

of Ulster, A.D. 916.

War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill, Ulster, A.D. 918. Chronicle (A.D. 921), referring entry in the Anglo-Saxon " to the result of this battle, runs In this year King Sihtric slew his brother Niel." There is, however, no evidence in Irish sources that Sihtric and Niall were brothers, or even half-brothers. *

Annals of

p. 37.

An

:

3 4

Annals of

Ulster, A.D. 920, 921, 923, 925.

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, A.D. 923. 6 Annals of Ulster, A.D. 920.

THE VIKING PERIOD

6

by

Sihtric Gale,

preceding year,

1

who had been expelled from Dublin probably by his brother, Guthfrith.

in the

After

death in 927 Guthfrith, King of Dublin (d. 934), with the Vikings of Dundalk, left Ireland in order to secure his own succession in Yoik, but he would seem to have Sihtric's

been driven out by Aethelstan, for the Irish Annals mention his return to Dublin after an absence of six months. 1 Guthfrith's son, Olaf, came forward about this time.

Supported by the Norsemen of Strangford Lough he plundered Armagh, but his subsequent attacks on Ulster were checked by Muirchertach MacNeill, son of Niall Glundubh. Olaf fought in alliance with Constantine in the battle of Brunanburh (937), and after the defeat inflicted fled to Dublin. 8 He is " " the Anlaf of Ireland who was chosen King probably in but he died about a year by the Northumbrians 941,*

on them by Aethelstan's forces he

later.

8

Another Olaf, the famous Olaf Cuaran, also called Sihtricsson to distinguish between them, also played an important part in campaigns in Ireland and England. He went to York about 941, and was elected king by the Northumbrians, but was expelled after a few years along with Raegenald, son of Guthfrith. 6 He then took the Dublin Kingdom under his rule, and in the following year was defeated in battle

by the

Irish at Slaine (Co. Meath).

Leaving he departed but the to York, where he became king a second time Northumbrians drove him out after three years and placed

his brother Guthfrith to govern in his stead,

;

1

Annals of

*

A.D. 927. Ib., A.D. 937.

3

Ulster, A.D. 919.

Ib.,

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. A. Annal, 937. Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, D. Annal 941. 8 Ib., E. Annal 942; Annals of Clonmacnoise. A.D. 934. Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, A. Annal 944.

4

THE VIKINGS "

Yric, son of Harald

IN IRELAND

7

"

(i.e., Eric Bloodaxe, late King of 1 Norway) on the throne. Henceforward Olaf limited his activities to Ireland, where he reigned, the most famous of the Dublin Kings, for some thirty years. In 980, having summoned auxiliaries from the Scottish isles and Man, he prepaied to attack the drd-ri, Maelsechnaill II. A fierce battle was fought between them at Tara in which the Norse armies were completely

among the slain. Maelby a three days' siege of Dublin, after which be carried off a number of hostages from the Norsemen, and also obtained from them 2,000 routed, Olaf's son Raghnall being

sechnaill followed

up

this victory

together with jewels and various other treasures.* Olaf himself, utterly disheartened by his defeat, went on pilgrimage to lona, where he died soon after.

kine,

Some fifteen years before, a severe blow had been struck at the power of the limerick Vikings under Ivarr, grandson of Ivarr and his sons. The attack made on them at Sulcoit (968) by two princes Mathgamain and Brian,

who took Limerick

of

the

Dal

Cais,

the

brothers

resulted in victory for the Irish,

shortly

after. 3

Mathgamain was

treacherously murdered in 976, and Brian then became King of Thomond. He soon brought the Kingdoms of

Ossory and Leinster under his control, and by the terms made in 998 Maelsechnaill consented to leave

of a treaty

Brian master of Leth

Mogha

(i.e.,

the southern half of

The lyeinstermen under King Ireland). dissatisfied with this arrangement, began to and revolted,

assisted

Maelmordha,

make

tiouble

by the Dublin Norsemen. An import-

ant victory was gained over their combined armies at 1

Anglo-Saxon Ch/onicle, E. Annals 949, 952. Annals of the Four Masters, A.D. 978, 979; Annals of A.D. 979 (= 980). *

9

War

of the Gaedhil with the Gaill, p. 77.

Ulster,

THE VIKING PERIOD

8

Gleann

Mama

(Co.

who

Wicklow) in the year 1000 by Brian, King Sihtric (O.N. submit to Brian's

after the battle captured Dublin. Sigtryggr), son of Olaf Cuaian, had to

authority.

Having accepted

his allegiance Brian married

Goimflaith, mother of Sihtric and sister of Maelmordha, and at the same time gave his own daughter to Sihtric in marriage. 1

Brian became drd-ri in 1002, and after that for about twelve years there was peace. Towards the end of that time Gormflaith, who had meanwhile separated from her

husband, incited her brother Maelmordha to make war on Brian. Maelmordha and Sihtric began to gather forces for the coming struggle. Sihtric at his mother's command 8 the aid of sought Sigurthr, Earl of Orkney and of Brodar, fleet then lay off the west coast of Man. came from Norway 3 and Iceland to help their kinsmen. The armies under Brian and Maelsechnaill marched towards Dublin, and having encamped near Kilmainham set fire to the district of Fingal (i.e., Fine Gall, " the Foreigners' territory ") north of the city. The two armies met at Clontarf on Good Friday morning and the battle, one of the most famous ever fought on Irish soil, raged all that day. The Norsemen suffered a severe defeat, and in attempting to fly for refuge to their ships were

a Viking whose Fleets also

slaughtered by Maelsechnaill at Dubhgall's Bridge, near the Four Courts. Brian himself did not take part in the fight,

but he was

slain in his tent

by Brodar

1 War of the Gatdhil with the Gaill, Masters, A.D. 997.

p.

115

;

after the battle. 4

Annals of

the

Four

*War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill, p. 153. Njdls Saga, ch. 155. In the Annals of Loch Ce (A.D. 1014) Brodar is called the earl of York (iarla Caoire Eabhroigh). 3 4

War

of the Gaedhil with the Gaill, p. 151.

Ib.,

pp.

Ci, A.D.

151-191; Njdls Saga, chs. 155-157, Annals of Loch 1014; Annals of the Four Masters, A.D. 1013.

THE VIKINGS the

After

Battle

of

IN IRELAND

Clontarf

Norsemen became

the

gradually absorbed in the general population except in a few coast towns, where they continued to live more or less distinct and governed by petty kings until the English

Invasion (1169).

In the chronicles of the twelfth and alluded

thirteenth

centuries

"Ostmen"

(corruptly Houstmanni, Nosmani, etc.),

are

they

generally

1

to

as

and

it

would seem that when Dublin, Limerick, and Waterford " " were captured by the English the Ostmen had to withdraw to certain districts outside the walls of these towns. Thus, near Dublin, north of the River L,iffey, we hear of 2 Ostmaneby (i.e., Austmannabyr] afterwards called Ostmanstonry,

and now known "

made

Oxmanstown.

as

'

Mention

is

also

'

cantred of the Ostmen and holy 1200) of a " "3 vill of the Ostmen isle," near I/imerick and (c. 1282) of a near Waterford. 4 In the records of the fourteenth century, (c.

however, there "

the

Ostmen

"

is

an almost total absence

in Ireland.

of references to

5

^Calendar of

the Ancient Records of Dublin (ed. by J. T. Gilbert), Chartularies of St. Mary's Abbey, Dublin (ed. by Gilbert), I. II. 251 Giraldus Cambrensis Topographia Hibernica, V. 187. 258 " " Tlie name is generally supposed to have been first Ostmen but the word is Norse (i.e., Austmenn, given to them by the English, " a man living in the East ") and therefore plural of Austmathr, must have been current in Ireland before the English invasion. It may be suggested that the name was applied to the original Scandinavian settlers in Ireland, to merchants and other later comers from Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. Cf. the nickname Austmathr, given to a certain Eyvindr by the Scandinavian settlers in the Hebrides because he had come there from Sweden. 2 Chartularies of St. Mary's Abbey, I. 267 ib., I. 227, 234, etc.; II.

81

;

;

:

;

;

Calendar of the Ancient Records of Dublin, I. 55; 8 A Calendar of Documents Relating to Ireland

Sweetman), 4

I.

II.

96.

(ed.

by H.

S.

24.

Ib., II. p. 426.

5

For interesting articles on the Ostmen in Ireland see A. Bugge Sidste Afsnit af Nordboernes Historie i Irland, pp. 248-315 (Aarb ger for nord. Oldk. 1900) ; and E. Curtis The English and the Ostmen \n Inland (English Historical Review, XXIII., p. 209 ff.). :

:

THE VIKING PERIOD

10

CHAPTER

II.

INTERCOURSE BETWEEN THE GAILL AND THE GAEDHIL DURING THE VIKING PERIOD. THE

existence of the Gaill-Gaedhil or foreign Irish in Ulster

and various parts of Minister 1 during the years 854-856 shows that even in the early part of the ninth century there must have been considerable intercourse between the Vikings and the native population. For some of the GaillGaedhil were partly of Irish, partly of Norse extraction others, as the annalist explicitly states, were Irishmen who ;

had been fostered by the Norsemen, and in consequence had forsaken Christian practices and lapsed into Paganism.*

From

a

chance allusion

in

a

tenth

8 century text

it

would seem that they could speak

Gaelic, but so badly " " the gicgog of a Gall-Gaedheal that the expression was understood to mean or broken Gaelic. halting generally 4 They are mentioned in the Annals for the first time in won in which Aedh of Finnliath, King Aileach, year 854, 1

Annals of

Ulster,

A.D.

855,

856;

Annals of

thf

Four Masters,

A.D. 856.

'Three Fragments of Annals, pp. 128, 129; 138, 139. Airec Menmam Uraird Mate Coisse, sec. 29 (Marstrajider Bidrag til del Norske Sprogs Historic i Irland, p. 10). 9

4 With the Gaill-Gaedliil are members of Meath and Cavan

:

often identified a body of plunderers, clans, who in the year 845 devastated " after the manner of the Gentiles (Annals large tracts of territory " " A.D. The call sons of death Annalists them Ulster, (mate 845). of a a the chroniclers to monastic term bdis), possibly applied by people who had abandoned their Christian baptism, and who had profaned churches and religious houses. (Cf. Marstrander, op. cit., p. 7, n.)

"

THE GAILL AND THE GAEDHIL

11

a great victory over them in a battle fought at Glenelly, in Tyrone. 1 After this they took an active part in the at Irish wars, fighting like mercenaries on different sides

who was an Irish clan 8 against the Dublin Vikings under Ivarr, and still later we find them joined with the men of Waterford in opposition to the drd-ri.* Led by Caittil Find (O.N. Ketill + Ir. find fair) they made their last stand against the Dublin Vikings under Olaf and Ivarr, but were defeated with heavy losses, and after this there is no further record of their activities in Ireland. 5 On one occasion at least, they fought one time in alliance with the

war with the Norsemen

at

drd-ri, Maelsechnaill, 2

;

again, with

1 Three Fragments of Cf. Annals of the Four Masters, A.D. 854. " fleet Annals, A.D. 852, referring to the same event, mention the the Gaill-Gaedhil." of

8 3

Annals of Annals of

Ulster, A.D. 855. the

Four Masters,

A.D. 856.

^Fragments of Annals, A.D. 858. 8 There was also a mixed Norse and Gaelic population in Galloway (the word is a corruption of Gall-Gaedhil, Welsh Galwydel) as well as in the Hebrides (Ir. Innse Gall., i.e., the "Islands of the Foreigners or Norsemen") and other parts of Scotland. There is a reference to these Gaill-Gaedhill in the Four Masters (A.D. 1154): "The Cinel Eoghain and Muirchertach, son of Niall, sent persons over the sea to hire the fleets of the Gaill-Gaedhil of Aran, Can tire and the Isle of Man and the borders of Scotland in general, over which Mac

was in command " (For other references see Marstrander, op. cit., p. 9.) " where understood the place By Gaddgethlar the Norsemen " It is also Scotland and England meet (cf Orkneyinga Saga, ch. 28). interesting to note that, in Norse sources the inhabitants of Galloway Sgelling

.

.

.

.

are called Vikinga-Skotar, a direct translation of Gaill-Gaedhil. O'Flaherty (Ogygia, p. 360) thought that the Gaill-Gaedhil mentioned in the Annals of the mid-ninth century came to Ireland from Scotland, but the ancient Three Fragments of Annals, which contain the fullest accounts of the Gaill-Gaedhil (pp. 138-141) speak of them as Scuit (i.e., an Irish form of the Latin Scoti, a word which is always used with reference to the Irish before the tenth century). Moreover, the impression received from reading the Fragments of Annals is that the Annalist had in hie mind the Norse-Gaelic population of Ireland, not of Scotland.

THE VIKING PERIOD

12

with the Viking armies in England. According to the account Chester (c. 912) preserved in the Three Annals, many Irishmen, foster-children of Fragments of the Norsemen, formed part of the besieging army under the of the siege of

chieftain

1 Hingamund, who had been expelled from Dublin

some time previously.

To

these Irishmen Aethelflaed, the

lady of the Mercians, sent ambassadors appealing to them " " " true and faithful friends to abandon the as hostile "

and to

Saxons in defending the former allies and joined city. " and the reason they acted so towards the the Saxons, " was because they were less Danes," adds the chronicler, with them than with the Norsemen."* friendly The Vikings who formed settlements in Ireland during race of Pagans

The

assist the

Irish then deserted their

the reign of Turgeis (839-845) seem to have mingled freely

we find them not long after their arrival the to rebellion against the drd-ri* and clans stirring up the native princes on plundering expeditions. The joining annals mention several such alliances. Cinaedh, Prince of with the

Irish, for

Cranachta-Breagh, who had revolted against Maelsechnaill with a party of plunderers, laid waste the country from the Shannon eastward to the sea. 4 Another Irish prince, Lorcan,

King of Meath, accompanied Olaf and Ivarr when they broke into the famous burial-mounds 6 at New Grange,

Knowth and Dowth, on 1

Ann. Cambriae,

A.D.

the Boyne, and carried off the

902; (Steenstrup

:

Normannerne,

III.,

pp.

37-4i)8

Three Fragments of Annals, p. 230 ff. Annals of the Four Masters, A.D. 845, 852; Annals of Ulster, A.D. 846. Three Fragments of Annals, A.D. 862. *

* *

the Four Masters, A.D. 848. The plundering of these burial-mounds "

Annals of

"

a thing that had never made a deep impression en the Irish Annalists been done before it was thought that the Vikings discovered the existence of the " " treasure by magic, through paganism and idol worship (War of ;

the

Gaedhil with

the Gaill, p. 115).

The same source

(p.

25) records

THE GAILL AND THE GAEDHIL

13

which they found there. After the great naval between Danes and Norsemen in Carlingford Lough (A.D. 852) Danes and Irish frequently united forces against the common enemy, and on one occasion after the two treasures battle

won

a victory over the Norsemen in Tipperary the Danish chieftain Horm and his men were escorted

armies had

triumph to Tara where they were received with great honour by the drd-ri. 1 Even after the arrival of Olaf the White, who brought about a temporary reconciliation " between the two parties of Foreigners," a detachment in of Danes remained on the service of Cearbhall, King in

of Ossory. 2

The

Irish chronicler, in alluding to

the Norse practice

of billeting their soldiers in the Irish farmhouses, lays stress on the feelings of hostility entertained by the Irish towards

"

wrathful, foreign, purely Pagan people." Yet, we not infrequently find instances of friendly intercourse, as in the well-known story of Olaf-Trygvason and the peasant.* this

It appears that after Olaf's marriage to Gyda, sister of Olaf Cuaran, he occasionally visited Ireland. Once he sailed

there with a large naval force,

went on land with

his

men on

and being short

of provisions a foraging expedition. They

the plundering of Karry by Baraid (O.N. Barthr) and Olaf the White's " who left not a cave there underground that they did not explore." Several references to this practice of the Vikings occur also in Icelandic literature. It is interesting to compare the Irish accounts " with the following passage from Landnamabok (I., ch. 5) Leifr (one of the earliest settlers in Iceland) went on a Viking raid to the West. He plundered Ireland and found there a large underground house (Icel. jarlh-hus). It was dark within until he made his way to a place where he saw a light shining from a sword which a man held in his hand, ieifr slew the man ana took the sword and much treasure besides."

son

:

1

8 1

Three Fragments of Annals, p. 135. 76., p.

137.

Heimskringla

:

dldfs Saga Tryggvasonar, ch. 35.

THE VIKING PERIOD

14

number of cows, and were driving them towards when a peasant ran after them and begged Olaf to give him back his cows. Olaf told him to take them, if he could separate them from the rest without delaying their journey. The peasant had with him a large sheep-

seized a large

the shore

dog, which he sent in

among the herd, and the dog ran up and down and drove off as many cows as the peasant claimed. As they were all marked in the same way it was evident that the dog knew all his master's cows. Then Olaf " asked if the peasant would give him the dog. Willingly," was the reply. So Olaf gave him in return a gold ring, and assured him of his friendship. The dog was called Vfgi, " the best of all dogs," and Olaf had it for a long time. Years later, after the great naval battle in which Olaf lost " his life, Vfgi lay on a mound and would take no food from anyone, although he drove away other dogs and beasts and birds from what was brought to him. Thus he .

lay

till

he died."

.

.

1

Moreover, the evidence of both Norse and Irish sources goes to show that all through the ninth and tenth centuries

was extensive intermarriage between the two peoples. Marriages of the invaders with the women whom they had carried off as captives must have taken place from an there

we know definitely that the kings and on both sides frequently strengthened their alliances by unions between members of the royal families. According to the Landndmabdk many distinguished Ice-

early period,* and chieftains

landers traced their descent to Kjarval,

Cearbhall,

i.e.,

" or of Samr, (i.e., probably Ir. sam, happy to Gunnarr. the Irish hound which Pai Olaf peaceful ") gave Samr was killed while defending his master's homestead. (Njdls 1

The story

Cf.

"

"

Saga, chs. 69, 75.) 1

the Four Masters, A.D. 820; Fragments of Annals, of the Gaedhil with the Gaill, p. 79 ; The Victorious Career of Callachan of Cashel, p. 9. p.

Annals of

1 66

;

War

THE GAILL AND THE GAEDHIL

15

an ally of Olaf and Ivarr. His 1 Dubhthach) was the founder of an Icelandic family, and three of his daughters, Kormloth (Ir. 3 4 2 Gormflaith), Frithgerth and Rafarta married Norsemen. The Landndmabdk speaks of Kjarval as having been King " Alfred the Great ruled in England of Dublin while and Harold Fairhair in Norway," 5 a statement which is often doubted because unsupported by the evidence of the Irish historians but it is not at all unlikely, since Cearbhall was remotely connected with the Dublin royal house through

King

of

Ossory

(d.

grandson, Dufthak

887),

(Ir.

.

.

.

;

granddaughter Thurithr, who married Thorsteinn the 9 Red, son of Olaf the White. There is no mention of Authr, Olaf's Norse wife, in the 7 Annals, but we hear incidentally that Olaf, while in Ireland,

his

married a daughter of Aedh Finnliath, King of Aileach. After he became drd-ri (864) Aedh turned against the

Norsemen, and having plundered all their fortresses in the north of Ireland marched towards Lough Foyle, where they had assembled to give him battle. Aedh was victorious, and some yearc after he again defeated the Foreigners, who were at this time in alliance with his nephew Flann ; Flann himself and Carlus, son of Olaf the White being 1

Landndmab6k,

V., ch. 8.

*Ib., V., ch. 13. 3

Ib., III., ch. 9.

12. Rafarta was the wife of Eyvindr the Easterner, " settled down in Ireland and had charge of Kjarval's defences (cf. Grettis Saga, ch. 3). Orkneyinga Saga (ch. n.) makes Edna (Ir. Eithne) another of Kjarval's daughters to be the mother of Sigurthr, Earl of Orkney (killed in the battle of Clontarf, 1014) but owing to the chronological difficulty this is hardly likely.

"

*/&., III., ch.

who

;

b

Landndinabok,

6

Ib., II., ch. 15.

''Three

mentions i.e.,

in all

I.,

ch.

i.

Fragments of Annals, p. 151." The same source (p. 173) still another wife of Olaf, the daughter of Cinaedh," probability Cinaedh Mac Ailpin, King of the Picts (d. 858).

THE VIKING PERIOD

16

slain. We also hear of other Irish Kings who were closely related to their Viking opponents. Laxdaela Saga contains an interesting account of a slavewoman who was bought at a market in Norway by an Icelander called Hoskuldr. The woman was dumb, but Hoskuldr was so struck by her appearance that he willingly paid for her three times the price of an ordinary slave, and took her back with him to Iceland. A few years later,

numbered among the

happening to overhear her talking to their little son, Olaf Pai, he discovered to his amazement that her dumbness was feigned. She then confessed that her name was Melkorka (Ir. Mael-Curcaigh) and that she was the daughter of Myr Kjartan, a king in Ireland, whence she had been

war when only fifteen years old. Olaf was grown up his mother urged him to visit Ireland in order to establish his relationship with King " " Myr Kjartan, for," she said, I cannot bear your being called the son of a slave-woman any longer." Before they carried off as a prisoner of

When

"

This parted she gave him a large finger- ring and said my father gave me for a teething-gift, and I know he will :

recognise it when he sees it." She also put into his hands " I a knife and belt and bade him give them to her nurse am sure she will not doubt these tokens." And still further :

"

Melkorka spoke I have fitted you out from home as best I know how, and taught you to speak Irish, so that it will make no difference to you where you are brought to :

shore in Ireland.

.

.

."*

The saga goes on

to describe the voyage to Ireland, the and Olaf's there, reception by King Myr Kjartan. landing " Myr Kjartan may be identified with Muirchertach of

the Leather Cloaks," King of Aileach, who like his father Niall Glundubh distinguished himself by his spirited 1

Laxdaela Saga (translated by M.A.C. Press), chs.

12,

13, 20, 21.

THE GAILL AND THE GAEDHIL

17

resistance to Norse rule in the first half of the tenth century. 1 Donnflaith, another of his daughters and mother of the drd-ri, Maelsechnaill II.,

mairied Olaf Cuaran.

Their son,

Gluniarainn, reigned in Dublin after his father's retirement to lona, and appears to have been on friendly terms with

The

Maelsechnaill.*

becomes

more

relationship between these complicated owing to the

own

Maelsechnaill's

wife,

Maelmuire

two

1021),

(d.

families

fact

that

was a

3 daughter of Olaf.

But perhaps no figure stands out so prominently in the and Norse chronicles* of the second half of the tenth

Irish

century as Gormflaith (O.N. Kormloth) who first married Olaf Cuaran, then his enemy Maelsechnaill II., and finally

Brian Borumha, from

The interchange

whom

of family

she also separated.

and personal names which took

place to such an extent during the Viking period also points to the close connection between the foreigners and the Irish. As early as 835 mention is made of one Gofraidh

(O.N. Guthrothr), son of Fergus, who went to Scotland from Ireland in order to strengthen the Dal Riada and died some

time after as King of the Hebrides. 5 The Dublin Viking who led an attack on Armagh in 895 had an Irish name, Glun-iarainn,

obviously a translation of O.N. Jarn-kne,

He was

in all probability a relative of lercne or Jargna (corrupt forms of Jarn-knd] who ruled in conjunction with 1

The Annals "

941

:

of the Four Masters record his death under the year Muirchertach of the leather Cloaks, lord of Aileach, the

Hector of the West of Europe in his time, was slain at Ardee by Blacaire, son of Godfrey, lord of the Foreigners." Muirchertach 's grandson was killed by Olaf Cuaran. ( /&., A.D. 975). */&., A.D. 981. 8

1021.

Ib., A.D.

*War

of the Gaedhit with the Gaill, 153, 1546

Annals

o

the

p.

Four Masters, AD. 851.

142

ff.

;

Njdls Saga, chs.

THE VIKING PERIOD

18

Zain or Stain (O.N. Steinn) as King of Dublin (c. 850) l while other earls of Dublin, Otir mac Eirgni, 8 Eloir mac 8 Ergni or I/argni and Gluntradna, son of Glun-Iarainn ;

would also appear to have been of the same royal family. 4 Irish names occur more frequently in Norse families during the tenth and eleventh centuries we find Uathmaran, son ;

Earl Bairith

of

(O.N.

Camman, 8 son of Olaf Dubhcenn 8 and Donndubhan,

Barthr)

Godfreyson Giolla Padraig, sons of King Ivarr of Limerick ;

;

;'

son of Erulb (O.N.

Niall,

son of King Ivarr of Waterford Eachmarach, and very many others. 8 On the other hand, we may note the prevalence of such common Norse names

Herjulfr)

Cuallaidh,

;

;

as Ivarr, Guthrothr, Sumarlithi

and twelfth

in the eleventh

names Olafr) 1

still ;

survive,

MacCaffrey

as,

for

(O.N.

Three Fragments of Annals,

among

the Irish, especially Several of these

centuries.

MacAuliffe

instance,

Guthothr) pp.

119,

;

123.

(O.N. or

MacCalmont Annals of

Ulster,

A.D. 852.

*Chronicon Scotorum, A.D. 883. 8

4

Ib.,

886

;

Annals of

Ulster, A.D. 885.

A. Bugge Nordisk Sprog og Nor disk Nationalitet, i Irland, Professor Marstrander (op. cit., pp. 45, 46) takes pp. 284, 285. Gluntradna to be an Irish adaptation of an O.N. nickname Tronu- Kn, to which he compares Tronubeina, the daughter of Thraell, in the

See

:

Rigsthula, 9.

the name Grimr Kamban (Landndmabdk, Hauksb6k MS., which seems to be a Norse form of the Irish Camman. According to A. Bugge, Dubhcenn is a translation of the O.N. Svarthofthi, but Marstrander (op. cit., p. 45) holds that the name was known in Ireland before the Viking age. It may be suggested that it Cuaran was a nickname given to Ivarr's son by the Irish. Cf. Olaf " Olaf Cenncairech (i.e., Scabby(Ir. cuaran, a shoe made of skin) 6

Cf

.

ch. 19)

;

head.") 7 Their mother was an Irishwoman, sister of Donnabhan, King of Ui Fidgenti. Donnabhan himself was married to a daughter of Ivarr, King of I/imerick. (War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill, p. 207). 8 Annals Annals of Ulster, A.D. 960, of the Four Masters, A.D. 931 1036, 1042, etc. See also Whitley Stokes On the Gaelic Names in the Landndmabdk (Revue Celtique, III., pp. 186-191). ;

:

THE OAILL Lamont

(O.N. Logmathr)

AtfD

;

THE GAEDHIL

Kettle (O.N. Ketill)

19

Kitterick

;

MacKeever (O.N. Ivarr) Mac-fN. Sigtryggr) Manus and MacManus (O.N. Magnus) Quistan (Ir. Mac. -f (? Ir.

;

;

;

O.N.

Reynolds (O.N. Rognvaldr) Eysteinn) Sigerson (O.N. Sigurtbr) and MacSorley (O.N. Sumarlithi). Both Gaill and Gaedhil, so dissimilar in many ways, ;

benefited

by

;

their intercourse with one another.

In Ireland

the Vikings played an important part in the development of trade they also promoted the growth of town life. We ;

may

trace the beginnings of the

seaport towns, Dublin, limerick, Waterford and Wexford, to the forts built by them near the large harbours in the ninth and tenth centuries.

In Dublin coins weie minted for the

first

time

in Ireland 1 during the reign of Sihtric Silken Beard (c. 989-1042). Moreover, the large number of loan-words from

Old Norse which made their way into Irish shows that the Irish learned in many other ways from the invaders, notably in shipbuilding and navigation. So far as literature and art are concerned, the period of the Viking occupation is one of the most interesting in the In spite of the destruction of the history of Ireland. monasteries and the departure of numbers of the monks* 1 From the contemporary Irish poems the Book of Rights and The Curcuit of Muirchertach Mac Neill it may be inferred that in ancient Ireland all payments were made in kind. With the extension of trade, however, it is probable that many Anglo-Saxon and other foreign coins including those of the Scandinavian Kings of Northumbria, several of whom also reigned in Ireland came to be circulated in Ireland. The Vikings in England struck coins there during the reign of Halfdanr (d. 877). (Cf. C. F. Keary Catalogue of Coins in :

the British

Museum,

I.,

p. 202).

* One of these fugitives wrote the following lines on the margin of Priscian's Latin Grammar in the monastery of St. Gall, Switzerland:

"

Is acher ingaith innocht fufuasna fairge findfolt,

Ni agor reimm mora minn dond laechraid lainn na lothlind." (Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus. Ed. Stokes and Straohan, II., 290.)

THE VIKING PERIOD

20

to the Continent the work of the great schools was carried on and there was considerable literary activity ;* in 914 and 924, respectively, the great crosses at Clonmacnois and Monasterboice were set up cumhdachs, or book- shrines of plated gold and silver, were made for the three great manuscripts, the Book of Kelts, the Book of Dunow and the Book of Armagh carved gold, silver, and bronze work reached a high level of excellence in the famous Ardagh Chalice and the Tara Brooch and during the years which intervened between the battles of Gleann Mama and Clontarf, Romanesque architecture was introduced into Ireland. Irish art did not remain wholly free from Scandinavian ;

;

;

In the Cross of Cong (A.D. 1123) the Celtic inter" laced patterns are found side by side with the worm" while the crosier of ornament, Clonmacnois, the dragon

influence.

psalter of Ricemarsh and the shrine of St. Patrick's Bell " are decorated in the style known as Hiberno-Danish."* The Vikings, on the other hand, came under the influences of Irish art

and

literature.

We

find

marks

of Celtic influence

not only in the sculptured crosses erected by the Norsemen in the North of England and Man, but even in Scandinavia itself.

8

that the

Moreover, there are strong reasons for supposing rise of the prose saga among the Icelanders may

be the outcome of their intercourse with the Irish in the ninth and tenth centuries.

i.e.,

Bitter is the wind to-night. It tosses the ocean's white hair ; To-night I fear not the fierce warriors of Norway Coursing on the Irish Sea. (Translation by Kuno Meyer Ancient Irish Poetry, p. 101.) :

1

See Margaret Stokes

:

Early Christian Architecture in Ireland,

p. 127. 1 G. Coffey A Guide to the Celtic Antiquities oj Period (National Museum, Dublin) pp. 29, 49 and 62. :

*

lb., p. 17.

the Christian

CHAPTER

III.

THE GROWTH OF THE SEAPORT TOWNS. THE foundation of the seaport towns was the most important, and at the same time the most permanent

effect of the

Before this the only towns Viking invasion of Ireland. were the larger monastic centres 1 at Armagh, Clonmacnois,

Durrow and

Clonfert, which, besides the monastery itself, numerous beehive-shaped houses of stone, or small huts of clay and wattles built for the accommodation

consisted of

of the students attending the schools.

During the

first

half of the ninth century these monasteries suffered sorely

After a stubborn from the attacks of Viking raiders. resistance on the part of the Irish, Armagh fell into the hands " of Turgeis, who drove out the abbot Farannan and usurped " the abbacy Some years later Armagh was (c. A.D. 839). abandoned when the Vikings captured Dublin, at this time " town by the hurdle ford," 2 but they were quick a small to realise its possibilities as the seat of their monarchy and the chief centre of their trade. As a result of the struggle

which took place at a later between Armagh and Dublin, the Bishops of Dublin were obliged to acknowledge the Primate of Armagh for ecclesiastical supremacy,

period

3

;

1

In the

Annais of Tighernach

(A.D.

Annals of Ulster Todd, p. 156) the Latin monastery.

716), the

(A.D. 715), and the Book of Hymns (ed. civitas (Ir. Cathair) is the word used for a

* The old name for Dublin was Baile-atha-Cliath, "the town of the hurdle ford." It was afterwards called Dubh-linn (" black pool "), of which the O.N. Dyflin is a corruption,

8

See

p. 55.

31

THE VIKING PERIOD

22

but the latter town never recovered

its

former prestige as

the capital of Ireland. 1

That Dublin owes its importance, if not its origin, to the Norsemen may be inferred from the almost total silence of the historians and annalists regarding it in the years precedIt is probable that there ing the Scandinavian inroads. was a fort to guard the hurdle-ford where the great road from Tara to Wicklow, Arklow and Wexford crossed the Iviffey,

but

before the

it

seems to have played no great part in history fortified it in 840. Between Church

Norsemen

and Suffolk Street they had their Thing* or meetingplace, which was still to be seen in the seventeenth century While all along College Green, called Le Hogges 3 and later Hoggen Green by the English, lay their barrows (O.N. hangar). During the ninth and tenth centuries the Kingdom of Dublin known to the Scandinavians as Dyflinarski became one of the most powerful in the west. Its sway extended north to its colonies 4 at the Strangford and I/ane

;

1 Armagh is the only place in Ireland which is marked on a tenth century map of the world preserved in the British Museum. See Abbot of Monasterboice, R. A. S. Macalister Muiredach :

:

P- 13* It is called Tengmonth and Teggemuta in medieval documents (Chartularies of St. Mary's Abbey, I., 15, 461, 463, 465) and from "Parochia Sancti Andreae it the surrounding parish of St. Andrew " the took its name. In 1647 it is referred to as de Thengmote fortified hill near the College," but about thirty years later it was levelled to the ground and the earth was used for building Nassau Street (J. T. Gilbert- History of Dublin, II p. 258). '

,

3

The name survived

until the i8th century in to St. Andrew's Street.

was afterwards changed 4 Annals of Ulster, A.D.

Hog

Hill,

but

it

839, 840, 925, 928, 934.

These colonies were governed by earls, not kings, and their dependency on the kingdom of Dublin is clearly shown by certain entries in the Annals. In 926 a Viking fleet at L,inn Duachaill (on the coast of I/outh) was commanded by Albdarn (O.N. Halfdanr), son of Guthfrith (King of Dublin, 920-933). Later, when part of Albdann's army was besieged at Ath Cruithne (near Newry),

GROWTH OF THE SEAPORT TOWNS

23

Carlingford Loughs, west to Leixlip, south to Wicklow, as far as Waterford. The Dublin kings intermarried with royal families in Ireland, England and Scotland, and between the years 919 and 950 ruled, though

Wexford 1 and even

in

somewhat broken

succession, as Kings of York.

Limerick- (O.N. Hlymrek) a the great stronghold on the west coast, had no existence as a city before the ninth ,

century.

It

was

first

occupied during the reign of Turgeis

by Vikings, who used the harbour as a base for their ships. 3 The only chieftains mentioned in connection with this kingdom during the ninth century are Hona and Tomrir Torra (O.N. Th6rarr Th6rri), who were slain about the 4 year 860 in attempting to capture Waterford. A few years (O.N. Barthr) and Haimar (O.N. Heimarr) when marching through Connacht on their way to Limerick, were attacked by the Connachtmen and forced to retreat.' The real importance of Limerick, however, dates from the early part of the tenth century when it was colonised by Vikings under Tomar (Th6rir) son of Elgi (O.N. Helgi). To secure the fort against attack an earthen mound was later Barith

and gates were placed at certain distances

built all round,

" Guthfrith went with his forces to relieve it. In 927 the foreigners " accompanied Guthfrith when he marched on York. See Steenstrup, op. cit., III., p. 115.

of I,inn Duachaill 1

Wexford was

mentioned

in the

governed by earls. One of them, Accolb, Annals of the Four Masters, A.D. 928.

also

is

3

The Irish name Luimnech (hence O.N. Hlymrek} was originally applied to the estuary of the Shannon, but was afterwards confined to the town itself when it had risen to importance under Scandinavian rule. 3

Annals of

the

Four Masters,

A.D.

843

;

War

of the Gaedhil with

the Gaiil, p. 8.

*Three Fragments of Annals, pp. 167, 144-6. with the Gaifl, ch. 23. 5

Three Fragments of Annals,

A.D. 887.

pp.

173-175;

War

of the Gaedhil

Chronicon Sector urn,

THE VIKING PERIOD

24

1 leading into the streets and the houses.

was independent, having subject 8 I/nigh Ree and Lough Corrib.

As a kingdom

it

colonies at Cashel, Thurles,

It had no connection with Dublin during the tenth century in fact, there is evidence to show that both royal houses were bitterly hostile towards each another. On one occasion Guthfiith, King of Dublin, led an army to Limerick, but was repulsed with heavy losses 3 A few years later (A.D. 929) he by the Vikings there. ;

expelled Tomar's successor, King Ivarr of Limerick, and his followers from Magh Roighne (a plain in Ossory), where Olaf Godfreyson they had encamped for a whole year.

was equally active. After defeating Olaf Cenncairech and the Limerick Vikings at Lough Ree in 937, he carried them off to Dublin, 4 and that same year probably forced them to fight on his side in the battle of Brunnanburh. This hostility would seem to have been due to rivalry between two powerful kingdoms, rather than, as has been 6 It is not at all suggested, to difference of nationality. certain that the Limerick Vikings were purely Danes. One Irish chronicler speaks of the Scandinavians in Munster

as Gaill and Danair and Danmarcach ocus allmurach

foreigners "). (i.e.,

6

Elsewhere we 7

their

calls

find the

fleets

of

Norsemen) used with reference to the Limerick

*The Victorious Career of Cellachan of

loingeas

Danes

and word Lochlannaigh

(" fleets

settlers

Cashel, pp. 9, 66;

War

;

oj

the Gaedhil with the Gaill, p. 56. 1 Annals of Ulster, A.D. 845, 922, 929; The Victorious Career of Cellachan of Cashel, p. 10 War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill, p. 10 Three Fragments of Annals, p. 197. ;

;

* *

Annals of Annals of

Ulster, A.D. 924.

the

Four Masters,

A.D.

935; Chronicon Scototum, A.D.

936. *

A.

Bugge

:

Sidste Afsnit af Nordboernes Historic

i

254. 255-

*War 7

of the Gaedhil with the Gaill, p. 41.

Thf Victorious Career of Cellachan of Casket,

p.

64.

Irland,

pp

GROWTH OF THE SEAPORT TOWNS

25

and Colla (O.N. Kolli). Prince of Limerick (d. 931) was Norseman, for he was son of Barthr, a leader of the Finn-Gennti in the ninth century. There would seem to have been a mixture of both Danes and Norsemen in Limerick, and since there is no proof that struggles for mastery took place between them, we may take it that they certainly a

acted in harmony. During the tenth

century Limerick stood in close connection with the Scandinavian Kingdom in the Hebrides. 1

Mention

is

made

of one "2

chieftain

"

Morann, son

of

the

who f ought and fell in Limerick Sea King of Lewis, against the Irish. Moreover, the occurrence of the names Manus, Maccus (O.N. Magnus) and Somarlidh (O.N. Sumarlithi) in both royal families points at least to relationship by mairiage. Indeed, the same family seems to " have reigned in both kingdoms. Godfrey, won of Harold, of the Hebrides,"

King

who was

slain

by the Dal Riada

in 989* was in all probability a son of that of the foreigners of Limerick," whose death

"

is

Harold, lord recorded by

the Four Masters in 940. Practically nothing is known of the Scandinavian settlein Waterford* (O.N. Vethrafjorthr) before the year

ment 919, "

when Vikings under Raghnall

King

of

the

Danes,"

Dublin.

before

attacking

called

Nortmannai

1

2 8

Steenstrup

:

op.

(O.N. Rognvaldr), concentrated their forces there

('

These

Norsemen

cit., III., p.

'),

invaders, sometimes but generally alluded

213.

The Victorious Career of Cellachan of Cashel, Annals of Ulster, A.D. 988.

p.

65.

"

two fleets *Three Fragments of Annals (A.D. 860) record that Norsemen came into the land of Cearbhall, son of Dunlaing (King of Ossory) to plunder it." These fleets probably sailed up the Barrow from Waterford harbour. The same annals also mention (p. 129) a Norse chieftain called Rodolbh, who may have been connected with the colony at Waterford. See also Annals of Ike Four Masters, A.D. 888 [891].

of the

THE VIKING PERIOD

26 to

.as

as

Gaill

('

foreigners

Raghnall's

Norsemen

1

')

must have

army was composed

also included Danes, of

both Danes and

and moreover, both

parties are represented as 3 righting side by side against the Irish in Waterford. Waterford had not at first a dynasty of its own, but was j

dependent on the Dublin Kingdom. Olaf Godfreyson seems to have been in command there while his father was King of Dublin 3 and we hear also that when the town was attacked by the Irish under Cellachan of Cashel, Sihtric, ;

a prince from Dublin, came with a fleet to relieve it. * I/ater in the same century, the kingdom of Waterford stood quite distinct, and was governed by Ivarr (d. 1000), who was

probably a member of the Dublin royal family. He came forward as a claimant to the Dublin throne after the murder of Gluniarainn, son of Olaf

Cuaran

(989)

but was driven

out after a three years' reign by Sihtric Silken- Beard. Ivarr's successors in Waterford, Amond (O.N. Amundr) and Goistilin Gall were killed in the battle of Clontarf. In the

tenth

and eleventh centuries Waterford was and, like Limerick, had gates leading The town itself was built in the form of

fortified,

strongly into the town.

5

a triangle with a tower at each angle, 6 only one of which, the famous Reginald's Tower, built in 1003, is still standing. Gualtier (? Ir. Gall tir, land of the foreigners '), a barony '

lying on the west side of the harbour, is supposed to have been connected with the Ostmen,' who were obliged to '

settle there after the arrival of the 1

Annals

English in 1169.

of Ulster, A.D. 921.

*Tke Victorious Career of Cellachan of Cashel, p. 71. 3 The Four Masters record " the of Kildare by the son plundering " of Gothfrith (i.e., Olaf) from Waterford (A.D. 926). *The Victorious Career of Cellachan of Cashel, p 70. *The Victorious Career of Celtachan of Cashel, pp. 13, 6 Smith History of Waterford, p 165. :

70.

GROWTH OF THE SEAPORT TOWNS Cork, the seat of a famous school founded by St. Finbar, an easy prey to the Vikings in the first half of the ninth

fell

built forts there

They

century.

endeavouring to push their checked by the Irish (or

2 Gnimbeolu) was

way

and at Youghal, 1 but inland to

in

Fermoy were

and their chief, Gnimcinnsiolla We hear no more of Scandinavians

(866),

slain.

here until early in the tenth century when new invaders, part of the large army which came to Waterford with

Raghnall and Earl Ottarr in 919, gained possession of the town. The new settlers seem to have been chiefly, if not

Danes (Danair and Duibhgeinnti), 3 and it would seem that with the Danish colonies at Thurles and Cashel they subsequently came under the authority of

entirely,

Ivarr of limerick,

"

the high- king of

the

foreigners

of

Munster." Traces of the Scandinavian occupation still remain in the place-names on the coast, especially in the districts Near Dublin we find surrounding the seaport towns. Howth (O.N. hofuth, a head ') and Skerries (O.N, '

'

skjcer,

'

a rock

;

also

Lambey, Dalkey and

Ireland's Eye,

'

three containing the O.N. form ey, an island.' The name Leixlip is probably a form of O.N. laxhleypa* (' salmon-leap ')

all

generally supposed, of O.N. lax-hlaup. The O.N. in Wexford, Strangford and Carlingford occurs fjorthr not, as

1

8

is

Annals

of the

Four Masters,

A.D. 846, 864.

Fragments of Annals, p. 169, Gnimbeolu is the O.N. Grimr Biola. The Irish "Cinnsiolla" (Nom. Cenn Selach) is probably a translation of O.N. Selshofuth, a word which does not occur as a nickname in Old Norse literature. It was, however, known in Ireland as may be seen from the runic domnal Selshofoth a soerth (th) eta on a bronze sword inscription Cf. Marstrander, op. cit. plate found in Greenmount (Co. I,outli). Ib., 865.

p. 49. 3

The Victorious Career of Cellachan of Cashel, pp. Cf.

Marstrander, op.

cit., p.

149.

10, 67.

28

THE VIKING PERIOD

1 Other Scandinavian names on the (O.N. Kerlingafjorthr). east coast are Copeland Islands (i.e., Kaupmannaeyjar, the '

near Belfast Lough ; Arklow, Wicklow ') a low, flat meadow by the water's edge.) Carnsore and Greenore (O.N. eyrr, a small tongue of land running

merchants' islands (O.N.

lo,

;

'

into the sea

').

The number

names on the south and west coasts we find only Heltn'c& (O.N. a bay '), Dursey Island, south-west of Cork, and vik, Swerwick Harbour, in Kerry. At least three wellis

limited

of

besides Water/or^,

;

'

authenticated place-names have dropped out of use

na Trapcharla,

in

(O.N.

'

or

turf-cutter 8

(2)

a

thorp-karl,

a

cape in Norse the Ulfreksfjortbr,* Jolduhlaup,

north

the

name

;

Dun '

Co. Limerick

for

'

(i)

small

torf-karl,

farmer

Ireland

of

;

')

a ;

and

Lough Larne.

It is also interesting to note that the second element in the names of the three provinces, Ulster, Leinster and Munster is derived from the O.N. stathir (plural of stathr, '

a place

'),

while the

name

Ireland (O.N. Iraland)

is

Scandi-

navian in form and replaced the old Irish word Eriu during the Viking period. 1 Cf. op. cit., p. 154. According to him, the O.N. Marstrander, " an old woman" in this instance, is a folk-etymological Kening, form of Carlinn, the old name for the ford. *

the Four Masters, in Cath Ruis na Rig corresponds to the O.N. fiskikari,

Annais of

Piscarcarla

The word Trapcharla

''

A.D.

1062.

(ed.

Hogan)

Cf.

Co dunad na

where Piscarcarla

a fisherman."

(" na Trapcharla ") aho occurs in the of a people who fought at Troy. It has

Book

been of Ballymote as the name suggested that the term was generally used during the ninth and tenth centuries of a Norse colony in Co. Limerick, which colony would acquire a legendary character after the Norsemen had been driven out of Ireland, and would figure, like the Lochlannaigh or Norsemen, in Middle-Irish stories and poems. See Miscellany presented 8 Landndmabok 4

Heimskringla

I. :

ch.

to

Kuno

Meyer, pp. 293, 370.

i.

Saga 6ldfs hins

helga, chs. 88,

10.

CHAPTER

IV.

THE EXPANSION OF IRISH TRADE. WHEN on the

the Scandinavians had firmly established themselves Irish coasts they developed trade to a considerable

extent, not only by bringing Ireland into communication with their new settlements in England, but also by opening

up commerce with Iceland and Scandinavia, and even with Russia and the East. 1

Before A.D. 900 at

all

events,

they had been accustomed to visit France from Ireland, and had trafficked with merchants there, using a certain vessel called the Epscop '* for measuring their wine. That this branch of their trade was in a nourishing condition in the latter half of the tenth century may be inferred from a contemporary poem in which Brian Borumha is said to have exacted as tribute one hundred and fifty vats of wine from the Norsemen of Dublin, and a barrel of red wine 8 every day from the lyimerick settlers. The Scandinavians also made marked advances on the old methods of trading by building their forts near the large harbours and carrying on from there a continuous '

1 See the map of the Irish Trade Routes in Mrs. J. R. Green's The Old Irish World. " " a " in the sea-laws, i.e., a vessel for measuring Epscop fina wine used by the merchants of the Norsemen and the Franks." See Sanas Cormaic (Corntac's Glossary) compiled c. A.D. 900. (Anccdota

from Irish Manuscripts IV., ed. Kuno Meyer.) 8 Cf. O'Curry Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish, II., For a transcript of the poem see A. Bugge Vesterlandents p. 125. Indflydelse paa Nordboernes i Vikingetiden, p 183. :

:

29

THE VIKING PERIOD

30

overseas commerce. 1

who

Previous to this foreign merchants*

visited Ireland used to

exchange their goods for home

produce at the numerous oenachs or fairs held at certain intervals all over the country. These oenachs continued to be celebrated during the Viking period, but

it

was

in the

seaport towns, Dublin, L,imerick, Cork, Wexford, and Waterford, that the most important trade was centred.

Dublin, owing to its splendid position, half way between the Continent and the Scandinavian settlements in Scotland

and Iceland, and within easy distance of England, became one of the wealthiest towns in the West. One Irish chronicler gives a glowing account of the treasures carried off from there

by the "

Irish after the battle of

Mama

Gleann

(A.D. 1000)

:

In that one place were found the greatest quantities

and precious stones carbuncle-gems, and beautiful goblets much also of various vestures of all colours were found there likewise." 3 Dublin is frequently mentioned in the sagas and seems to have been very well known to Icelandic dealers. In Olaf

of gold, silver, bronze,

;

buffalo horns,

.

.

.

Tryggvason's Saga (Heimskringla) we read that during the reign of Olaf Cuaran a merchant called Th6rir Klakka, who

had been on many a Viking expedition, went on a trading " as was usual in those days."* When voyage to Dublin, Sihtric Silken Beard, was King of Dublin (c. 994) Olaf's son, the Icelandic poet Gunnlaug to Ireland with merchants 1

Ormstungu

sailed

who were bound

from England for Dublin. 8

Laxdaela Saga, ch 21. According to an ancient poem on the great fair of Carman (Co. " articles Kildare) foreign merchants visited this fair and sold there of gold and silver, ornaments and beautiful clothes." For other A Social History of Ancient Ireland, Vol. references see Joyce II., pp. 429-431 O'Curry Manners and Customs of the Ancient Cf.

3

:

;

:

Irish, III., p. 531. 3 War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill, p. 115. *

Saga dldfs Tryggvasonar (Heimskringla), Gunnlaugs Saga Ormstungu, ch. 8.

ch. 51.

EXPANSION OF IRISH TRADE

31

1

Eyrbyggia Saga tells of both Th6rodd, the owner of a 2 large ship of burden, and Guthleif, who went with other " west to Dublin." Still more interesting traders on voyages the account in the same saga of a merchant-ship that came from Dublin in the year 1000 to Snaefellsness in Iceland and anchored there for the summer. There were on board some Irishmen and men from the Sudreyar (Hebrides) but only a few Norsemen. One of the passengers, a woman named " bed-clothes Thorgunna, had a large chest containing a silken embroidered, sheets, beautifully quilt, and English other valuable wares, the like of which were rare in Iceland."* limerick is heard of only once in Icelandic sources a " " the L/imerick-farer trader named Hrafn was surnamed

is

;

(Hlymreks fan)

The War of

*

because he had lived for a long time there.

the Gaedhil with the Gaill gives a detailed descrip-

tion of the spoils gained

by the Irish after the battle of would seem that the Limerick (968) had in with France, Spain and been trade Vikings engaged whence

Sulcoit

the East. "

They

it

'

carried

away

their

(i.e.,

The Vikings

')

jewels

and

their best property, their saddles, beautiful and foreign, their gold and their silver ; their beautifully woven cloth

and of all kinds their satins and their silken pleasing and variegated, both scarlet and green, and all sorts of cloth in like manner." 5 Reference has already been made to the numbers of Irish

of all colours

;

cloths,

women

captured by Viking raiders many of these captives were afterwards sold as slaves in Norway and Iceland. In ;

Laxdaela Saga we hear of Melkorka, an Irish princess, 1

Eyrbyggia Saga, ch. 29.

2

Ib., ch. 64.

3

Ib., ch. 50.

*Landndmab6k,

*War

II., ch. 21, etc.

of the Gaedhil with the Gaill, p. 79.

who

THE VIKING PERIOD

32

was exposed for sale with eleven other women at a market Norway. The slave-dealer, a man known as Gilli (Ir. " " the Russian was in all probability a Scandinavian Giolla) merchant from Ireland who had carried on trade with Russia. The extent of the slave traffic is further illustrated " in Kristni Saga (ch. 3) where mention is made of a fair " Irish maid whom Thangbrandr the priest bought " and when he came home with her a certain man whom the emperor Otto the Young had put as steward there, wished to take her from him," but Thangbrandr would not let her in

;

On the other hand, the Irish frequently descended on the Viking strongholds in Ireland and carried off the Norse women and children, " the soft, youthful, bright, matchless go

l

!

blooming, silk-clad young women, and active, large well-formed boys." 2 Therefore it is not unlikely that the " " who are stated to have been slaves ignorant of Gaelic to tribute the Irish as kings in the ninth and tenth given girls

;

centuries 8 were really Scandinavian prisoners of war. An interesting passage in the Book of Ely gives an idea

the activity of the

of

"

Irish

Certain merchants from

merchants at this period merchandise of

:

Ireland, with

and some coarse woollen blankets, arrived town called Grantebrycge (Cambridge) and

different kinds

at the

little

4 It is not surprising then that exposed their wares there." the wealth of Ireland increased rapidly, so much so that Brian Borumha, realising that this was largely due to Viking enterprise, allowed the invaders to remain in their forts

on the coast

"

for the purpose of attracting

1

Kristni Saga, ch.

*

War

commerce from

3.

of the Gaedhil with the Gaill, p. 79.

^The Book of Rights

(Leabhar na gCeart), pp.

O' Donovan. *Liber EHensis, (ed. Gale) L, ch. XLII.

87,

181.

Ed.

J.

EXPANSION OF IRISH TRADE

And even

other countries to Ireland." 1

33

after their defeat

the Vikings remained in the coast towns, whence they continued to engage in trade witn England and the Continent. Both Giraldus Cambrensis* and William at Clontarf,

3

mention the extensive slave-trade carried on between Ireland and England in the twelfth century,

of

Malmesbury

Bristol being the chief centre. In addition to the ?lave large supplies of wine were imported from France,

traffic,

while the Irish

and skins

'

out of gratitude

'

(non ingrata) gave hides

4

That there was commercial inteicourse with Chester and also with the towns round the Bristol Channel may be seen from the names of the citizens of Dublin in the year 1200 Thorkaill, Swein Ivor from Cardiff Turstinus and Ulf from Bristol Godafridus and Ricardus from Swansea Thurgot from Haverfordwest and Harold from Monmouth. 5 About 1170 two ships sailing " from England laden with English cloths and a great " store of goods were attacked and plundered near Dublin by a Norseman, Swein, son of Asleif and some years later vessels from Britain carrying corn and wine were seized in Wexford harbour by the English invaders. 6 The historical evidence is amply borne out by the existence in exchange.

:

;

;

;

;

of such old

mangari, a

'

Norse loan-words in Irish as mangaire (O.N. a mark '), margadh, '), marg (O.N. mork, '

trader

1 Keating: History of Ireland, III., p. 271. (Ed. Dinneen). Keating probably derived his information from Giraldus Cambrensis Topographia Hibernica, D. III., ch. LIII. :

i

Expugnatio Hibernica, I., *De Vita S. Wulstani, II., (See

Cunningham

:

ch.

XVIII.

20.

Growth of English Industry and Commerce,

I.,

p. 86.) *

Giraldus Cambrensis

5

A.

Bugge

Ireland, Part

:

:

Topographia Hibernica,

Contributions

to

the

History

of

ch. VI.

I.,

the

Norsemen

lit

Giraldus Cambrensis

:

Expugratio Hibtrnica,

I.,

ch. Ill,

in

THE VIKING PERIOD

34 '

(O.N. markathr, a market '), and penning (O.N. penningr, a penny '), and also by certain archaeological discoveries. '

In Scandinavia coins of King Sithric Silken- Beard have been 1 found, while four sets of bronze scales and some weights

enamel and gold have been dug up in Ireland (Bangor, Co. Down).' To the same period (early ninth century) also belong the scales and weights which were richly decorated in

discovered in the great hoard at Islandbridge, near Kilmainham in 1866. 3 With such strong evidence of the influence

by the Vikings on the expansion of Irish trade it not surprising to find that even as late as the seventeenth century the greater part of the merchants of Dublin traced their descent to Olaf Cuaran and the Dublin Norsemen. 4

exerted is

1

A. Bugge

:

Vesterlandenes Indflydelse paa Nordboernes

i

Vikinge-

tiden, pp. 300-304. * 3

4

G. Coffey. op.

cit., p.

91.

Ib., p. 89.

Duald Mac

Firbis

A. Bugge), p. ii.

:

On

the

Fomorians and

the

Norsemen

(ed.

CHAPTER

V.

SHIPBUILDING AND SEAFARING. THE

almost complete absence of any allusion to Irish ships 1 during the eighth and ninth centuries shows that at this

time the Irish had no warships to drive back the powerful naval forces of the Vikings. Meeting with no opposition

on sea the invaders were able to anchor their fleets in the large harbours, and afterwards to occupy certain important positions along the coasts. In this connection it is interesting to note that the Irish word longphort (a. shipstead later, '

'

;

'

a

camp

')

is

used for the

first

time in the Annals

of Ulster

with reference to the Norse encampments at Dublin and hence it has been concluded that L,inn-Duachaill (840) ;

the early Norse long-phorts were not exactly fortified camps, but ships drawn up and protected on the landside, probably '

by a stockaded earthwork.' 2 The Annalists tell how, when the Vikings were from Dublin in 902, they

fled across

expelled the sea to England,

leaving large numbers of their ships behind them. It was probably the capture of these vessels that impressed upon the Irish the advantages of this new method of warfare, for

1

the 1

they now began to build ships and to prepare to meet Only one reference Four Masters, A.D. Eoin MacNeill

Review. .Vol.

" :

is

to be found in the Annals.

The Norse Kingdom

XXXIX.,

See Annals oj

728.

pp. 254-276).

35

of the

Hebrides

" (Scottish

THE VIKING PERIOD

36

the Vikings in their

own

element. 1

manned by Ulstermen, attacked

Man but was

of

In 913 a

"

new

fleet,"

the Norsemen off the coast

defeated. 1 Another Ulster fleet

commanded

by Muirchertach mac Neill, King of Aileach, sailed to the Hebrides in 939 and carried off much spoil and booty. 8 Moreover, the Irish seem to have imitated the Scandinavian " " or carrying their light vessels over practice of drawing land to the lakes and rivers in the interior of the island. Mention is made of Domhnall, son of Muirchertach, who " took the boats from the river Bann on to Lough Neagh, and over the river Blackwater upon Lough Erne, and afterwards upon

The men

4 Lough Uachtair."

Munster also had their navy, which they 8 organised according to Norse methods by compelling each of

district in the different counties to contribute ten ships to it.

Thus by the middle

of the tenth century they were able When Cellachan of Cashel

to put a formidable fleet to sea. (d.

954)

was captured by the Vikings and brought to Dublin,

It is interesting to recall that a new development in shipbuilding, probably due to the same causes, was taking place in England about the same time. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle first mentions a naval encounter with Vikings under the year 875, and some twenty years " later describes the long ships, shaped neither like the Frisian nor the Danish," which Alfred had commanded to be built to oppose the oescs, or Danish ships. 1

1 3 4

Annals of Annals of

Ulster, A.D. 912. the

Four Masters,

A.D. 939.

(= 955). Annals of Ulster, A.D. 963. " To this entry the annalist adds the following note Quod non factum est ab antiquis temporibus." Annals of

the

Four Masters,

A.D. 953

:

"

Bairith (O.K. Barthr), Cf. Three Fragments of Annals (A.D. 873) ." drew many ships from the sea westwards to Lough Ree. * Ancient Haakon into districts vided was di by (Skipreilhur) Norway each of \\hich had in wartime to equip and man a warship the number of these districts was fixed by law. Gulathingslog, 10. Cf. Cf. The Victorious Career of Cellachan of Cashel, p. 151, n etc. The Saga of Haakon the Good (Heimskr.), ch. 21. :

.

.

:

;

SHIPBUILDING AND SEAFARING

37

he sent messengers to the Munatermen bidding them to " and afterwards," he said, "go to defend their territory :

and bring them with you to Sruth and if I am carried away from Ireland, let the men of Munster take their ships and follow me." 1 The chronicle goes on to give a vivid description of the great naval battle which followed the Vikings under the leadership of Sihtric, a prince from Dublin, took up " their position in the Bay of Dundalk, where the barques " met them. The and swift ships of the men of Munster the chieftains of

my

na Maeile (Mull

of Cantyre),

fleet

:

were arranged according to the

Irish ships

territories

they

Corcolaigdi and Ui Echach (Co. Cork) were placed farthest south next came the fleets of Corcoduibne and Ciarraige (Co. Kerry), and lastly those

represented

:

those

of

;

of Clare.

When

the Munstermen saw Cellachan,

who had

been bound and fettered to the mast by Sihtric's orders, they made gallant attempts to release him ; some of them " the rowbenches and strong oars of the mighty leaped upon " of the Norsemen, while others threw tough ropes ships of

hemp

across the prows to prevent

them from

escaping.

King of Corcoduibne, brought his ship alongside Sihtric's, and with his sword succeeded in cutting the ropes and fetters that were round the King, but was himself slain immediately afterwards. The battle ended in victory for the Irish the Norsemen were forced to leave the harbour Failbhe,

:

with

all their ships,

chieftain with them."

The War

but

"

they carried neither King nor

8

of the Gaedhil with the Gaill records still

more

Munster fleet during the reign of Brian Borumha. In 984 he assembled " a great marine fleet " on Lough Derg and took three hundred boats up th victories for the

1

1

The Victorious Career of Cellachan of Cashel, pp. Ib.,

pp. 89-102.

29, 86.

THE VIKING PERIOD

38

Shannon

1 Lough Ree and again in 1001 sailed with his But the greatest triumph of all was in

to

Athlone."

fleet to

"

sent 1005, when Brian, then at the height of his power, forth a naval expedition composed of the foreigners of Dublin and Waterford and the Ui Ceinnselaigh (i.e., the

men

all the men of Erin, such of to go to sea ; and they levied royal tribute from the Saxons and the Britons and from the men of

Wexford) and almost

of

them

as were

fit

Lennox in Scotland and the inhabitants of Argyle." 8 The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records the names of a number of Frisian sailors

who fought with

the English in a naval

battle against the Vikings (A. an. 897). In the same way the Irish ships must have been manned to a large extent by Norse mercenaries or by the Gaill-Gaedhil, for practically all the

shipping terms introduced into Irish in the tenth and eleventh centuries are of Norse origin. 4 This is evident

from the following Mid.

Ir. abor,

Accaire

list

abur

:

'

:

O.N. Mbora, an oar hole.' O.N. akkeri, an anchor.' O.N. akkerissaeti, 'a harbour for '

:

Accarsoid

:

ships.'

Achtuaim: athbha

O.N.aktaumr, 'a

:

phonetic

form, '

brace.'

l

War

av)

(af,

hofnth, head

'

O.N.

of

of a ship.

oj the Gaedhil with the Gaill, p. 109.

/6., p. 133. 8 /fc.,

p. >37.

4

Ree A. Bugge Norse Loan-words tn Irish (Miscellany Presented to Kuno Meyer, p. 291 ff.). W. A. Craigie Oldnordiske Ord i de Gaehske Sprog (Arkiv jar Nordisk Filologi, X., 1894). :

:

Marstrander Bidrag til det Norske Sprogs Histnrie K. Meyer Revue Celtique, X., pp. 367-9.

C.

:

:

,.

XI., pp. 493-5. XII., pp. 6o-3.

i

Irland.

SHIPBUILDING AND SEAFARING Allsad

O.N

:

As:

bat,

O.N.

bad

birling

carb

:

:

:

O.N O.N.

39

THE VIKING PERIOD

40

CHAPTER

VI.

LINGUISTIC INFLUENCES. (a)

THE

Loan-words from Old Norse

large

number

of loan-words

in Irish.

from Old Norse which

occur in Old and Middle Irish indicate clearly the extent and character of Scandinavian influence in Ireland. They are therefore interesting from an historical point of view, for they confirm, and sometimes supplement, the evidence of Irish and Icelandic sources, that the relations existing between the two peoples were largely of a friendly character.

As the subject has already been fully dealt with by more important loan words are

Celtic scholars, l only the

given here

:

I.

DREss 2 AND ARMOUR. '

O.Ir. at-chric, also clocc-att '

M. M. M. M.

a hat,' while

Ir.

allsmann

Ir. Ir.

boga ; bossan

Ir.

cnapp

a helmet.'

duic = M.

ait

= O.N. '

Ir.

clocenn,

a head

hattr, '

'

;

O.N. halsmen, a necklace.' O.N. bogi, a bow.' ' a small bag or purse O.N. puss, hanging from the belt.' O.N. knappr, a button.' '

;

'

1

Cf the

2

The

.

list

;

of authorities referred to ante, pp. 38, 39.

Norsemen sometimes adopted Irish fashions in their The great Viking Magnus, who was killed in Ireland dress. " " in A.D. 1103, was usually called barelegs (O.N. berfaettr) because he always wore the Irish kilts and his son, Harold Gilli, ;

"

Irish better than Norse, much wore the Irish raiment, being short-clad and light-clad." It was probably from his Irish cuaran, or shoes of skin that Olaf Sihtricsson, the famous King of Dublin received his nickname.

who could speak

LINGUISTIC INFLUENCES '

M. M. M. M.

Ir.

Ir.

sceld ;

O.

Ir.

scot, lin scoit ;

41

'

O.N. hjalt, a hilt (of a sword). O.N. mottull, a cloak.' O.N. merki, a flag or banner.' O.N. skojldr, a shield.'

dta;

'

Ir.

mattal

;

Ir.

mergge

;

'

'

'

'

M.

Ir.

M. M. M. M. M. M.

Ir.

bailc;

Ir.

fuindeog;

starga

'

O.N. skaut, O.N.

;

II.

a cloth/ or a shield.'

'

'

sheet.'

HOUSEBUILDING. O.N.

'

a beam.' O.N. vindauga, a window.' O.N. garthr, a garden.' O.N. holl, a hall.' bdlkr,

'

'

Ir.

garda

Ir.

halla;

Ir.

span;

;

'

'

O.N. sparri, a rafter.' O.N. stdll, a stool.' '

Ir. stdll;

III.

Other interesting loan words are O. Ir. armand, armann ; O.N. drmathr, an officer.' M. Ir. callaire ; O.N. kalian, a herald.' M. Ir. gunnfann; O.N. gunnfdni, a battle standard.' :

'

'

'

O.

Ir.

erell;U.Ir.

O.N.

iarla ;

M. M. M. M. M. M. O.

Ir.

lagmainn;

Ir.

Pm;

2

Ir.

srdid

;

Ir.

sreang

1 ,

an

'

'

a

a string.'

strengr, '

2ra't7/;

Ir.

trosg;

O.N. thradl, O.N. thorskr,

ustalng

O.N. husthing,

;

'

a street.'

straeti,

Ir.

Ir.

earl.'

O.N. logmenn, plural of logmathr, lawman.' O.N. berserkr. O.N. O.N.

;

'

jarl,

a slave.' '

codfish.' '

an assembly.'

1

In the Annals of the Four Masters (A.D. 960), lagmainn is the to certain chieftains from the Hebrides who plundered the southern and eastern coasts of Ireland.

name given

8 The word occurs only once in Irish Cellachan of Cashel, p. 140.

:

cf.

The

Victoriotts Carser of

THE VIKING PERIOD

42

Certain old Norse words and phrases which are to be found go to show the familiarity of the Irish

in Irish texts also

with the Norse language. They may be mentioned here, although they are not loan-words, but rather attempts on the part of the Irish authors to reproduce the speech of the foreigners

dug.

:

1

O.N. homing? or possibly ,

A.S. cyning. coining (Three Fragments of

Annals, pp. 126, 194, 228). O.N. konungr, "

Faras Donmall

" ?

(War

;

" p. 174).

sniding,"

a king.'

of

the Gaedhil with the Gaill

"Sund a

'

was the

"

Hvar es Doinhnall ? " Where is Domhnall

O.

Ir,

sund,

here.''

"

O.N.

reply.

"

" ?

nithingr,

here,

rascal." fiut

(Book

of Leinster,

172,

a, 7).

In f nit,

a

War

of

O.N.

hvitr,

O.N.

hvitr,

'white.'

personal name the Gaedhil with

the Gaill, p. 78.

;

'

white.'

1 The War of Uie Gaedhil wiih tlie Gaill, p. 203, says that when the Norsemen were fleeing after the battle of Clontarf, Earl Broder, accompanied by two warriors, passed by the tent in which King Brian was. One of these men, who had been in Brian's service, saw " " " the King and cried No. 110, acht Cing, Cing (This is the King). " a said Broder said it is Broder). priest, prist, prist (No, no,

43

LINGUISTIC INFLUENCES litill

(ibid., p.

84).

mikle

(Three Fragments Annals, p. 176).

nui, niii (ibid, p. 164).

'

O.N.

lititt,

O.N.

mikill,

little.'

of '

much.'

O.N. knue, from knyja,

1

'to

advance.'

O.N. rauthr,

roth*

(b)

Gaelic

Words

in Old

'

red.'

Norse Literature. 8

Considering the close connection between Ireland and Iceland, especially in the tenth and eleventh centuries, it is surprising that so few Gaelic words found their way

The only Norse words that can be said, with any certainty, to be derived from Irish, are

into Old Norse literature.

the following

:

bjannak

( Ynglingasaga, Heimskringla, ch. 2)

:

'

Ir.

bennacht,

a blessing.' '

erg (Orkneyinga Saga, ch. 113) Ir. airghe, (i)

a herd of cattle.'

'

1

These annals state that on one occasion

(2)

grazing land.'

(A.D.

869) Cennedigh

of Leix, a brave Irish chieftain, was pursued by the Norsemen, who " blew their trumpets and raised angry barbarous shouts, many of them crying nui, nui.' " '

2

Marstrander (op. cit, p. 156) suggests, however, that roth an archaic form of the Irish ruadh, red.'

may

be

'

3 Cf.

W.

A. Craigie

Landndmabnk

.

:

Gaelic

Words and Names in

(Zeitschrift fur Celtische Philologie,

the

Sagas and

Band

I.,

pp.

439-454)-

A.

Bugge

tiden, ch. 9,

:

Vesterlandenes Indflydelse paa Nordboerues

See especially pp. 358-359.

i

Vikinge-

THE VIKING PERIOD

44 gelt ;

'

l

varth at gjalli, to

with

fear.

a madman.'

Ir.

g&ttt,

Ir.

inghean,

Ir.

capdll,

Ir.

ceis,

become mad

Cf.

Eyrbyggja

Saga, ch. 18. '

ingian

;

kapall

(Fornmanna Sogur

'

kesja

;

girl.'

II., '

p. 231)

;

a

a horse.'

a spear.' '

korki (Snorres Edda, kross

II.,

'

;

kuaran

oats.'

493); Ir. coirce,

a cross.'

Ir.

cros,

Ir.

cuaran,

'

;

a shoe

'

(made

of skin). 1

There

is

an interesting account

of the gelt in the

Old Norse

Konungs Skuggsjd (Speculum Regale) " It happens that when two hosts meet and are arranged in battlearray, and when the battle-cry is raised loudly on both sides, cowardly men run wild and lose their wits from the dread and fear which seize them. And they run into a wood away from other men, and live there like beasts and shun the meeting of men like wild beasts. And it is said of these men then when they have lived in the woods in that condition for twenty years, that feathers grew on their bodies like birds, whereby their bodies are protected against frost and cold. ..." :

Cf Kuno Meyer On the Irish Mirabilia in "Speculum Regale" (Eriu, Vol. IV., pp. 11-12). .

:

the

Old Norse

This bears a striking resemblance to a certain passage in the mediaeval romance Cath Muighe Rath (Battle of Moy Rath, p. 232. Ed. by O'Donovan). It may also be compared with another romance, which probably dates from the same period, viz., Buile Stiibhne. (The Madness of Snibhne, ed. by J. G. O'Keefe for the Irish Texts Society).

Cf. also

HdvamAl

(ed. Gering), str.

129, etc.

45

LINGUISTIC INFLUENCES

kuthi

;

'

l

Ir.

?

male diarik

mallacht duit,

Ir.

;*

fierce.'

cuthach,

minnthak

;

a

rig,

'a

O

curse

Ir.

upon you, king.' mintach, made of meal.' a king.' ri(g),

Ir.

tarbh,

'

3

Ir.

'

Rigsmdl)

rig (in

;

tarfr (Eyrbyggia Saga, ch. 63, '

etc.)

Irish Influence

(c)

a bull.'

on Icelandic Place-

nomenclature.

A number of the place-names mentioned in the Landndmabdk* contain a Gaelic element which, with one or two exceptions, is present in the form of a personal name. Among

these

following

Icelandic

place-names

we may note

the

:

Personal Name.

Bekkanstathir ; (i)

Ir.

Branslackr,

Brjamslackr)

(also

Beccdn.

(2) Ir. (i)

;

1 Vilbald, a descendant of Kjarval, called Kuthi, cf. Landndmabok, IV., ch.

with the Gaill, p. 299,11.) suggests

Ir.

Bran,

(2)

Brian.

King of Ossory, had a ship n. Todd (War of the Gaedhil

Cuthach.

2

According to Jans Saga, hins Helga, ch. 14 (Biskupa Sogur I., Kaupmannahofn, 1858) King Magnus Barelegs sent an Icelander with other hostages to King Myrkjartan of Connacht. When one of the Norsemen addressed the King they arrived there, " " in these words : Male diarik," to which the King replied Olgeira ragaU," i.e., Jr., olc aer adh ra gall, (it is a bad thing to be cursed by a Norseman.) 3 minnthak was the name given by Hjbrleif s Irish thralls to the mixture of meal and butter which they compounded while on board ship on their way to Iceland. They said it was good for quenching

thirst. Cf.

Cf.

LandndmaMk,

Whitley Stokes, op.

I.,

ch.

cit.,

6.

pp. 186 191.

THE VIKING PERIOD

46

Personal Name. Ditfansdalir ;

Dufthaksholt

;

Ir.

Dubhan.

Ir.

Dubhthach.

Ir.

Colmdn.

also Dujthakskor ; etc.

Kalmansd ; also

Kalmanstunga.

Kjallakshott, Kjallaksst'.ithir ; Ir. CeaUach.

Kjaransvik

;

Kylansholar ; (1) Lnnansholt or (2)

Ir.

Ciardn.

Ir.

Culen (Marstrander).

Ir.

(1)

Lumansholt;

(2)

Lon-dn

Lommdn. made of meal.' '

Minnthakseyr ;

Ir.

mintach, '

Papyli,

Papey ;

Palreksfjorthr ;

'

Ir.

papa,'

an

Ir.

personal

name

anchorite.'

Patraic.

CHAPTER

VII.

THE VIKINGS AND THE CELTIC CHURCH. BEYOND a few meagre on the progress

allusions the Irish Annals throw no " " among the foreigners

of Christianity

light in Ireland during the ninth century. Fortunately, however, the Icelandic Sagas and the Landndmabdk have preserved

interesting details concerning a small number of the settlers in Iceland, who had previously come under the influence of Christianity in Ireland and in the Western

some

Norse

Islands of Scotland.

sources the

new

faith

As

far as

seems at

we can gather from these to have made but little

first

headway heathenism retained a strong hold on the majority ;

Norse people, and there can be

little doubt that this was extensively practised in Ireland during religion the Viking age. Evidence of this is to be found in The War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill, which describes how Authr, wife of Turgeis, sat on the high altar of the church in Clonmacnois, and gave audiences as a prophetess. 1 In this instance the high altar would seem to have corresponded to the seithr hjallr or platform which it was customary to erect in Icelandic houses when a volva or prophetess was

of the

form of

called in to foretell the future. 2

Some

writers 3 also point

l

\Var of the Gaedhil with the Gaill, p. 13. " Three Fragments of Annals, p. 146 In a battle fought between the Irish and the Norsemen the latter were driven to a small place surrounded by a wall. The druid Hona went up on the wall, and with his mouth open began to pray to the gods and to exercise his magic he ordered the people to worship the gods. ..." Cf. also

:

;

2

Vatnsdaela Saga, ch. Thorfinssaga Kavlsefnis, ch. 3 TMttr af Nornagesti, ch. Hrotfs Saga. Kraka, ch. 3 etc. Cf.

;

n

10

;

;

;

3 The Scandinavian Kingdom of Dublin, p e.g., C. Haliday Margaret Stokes, op. cit., pp. 96-98. :

47

12

ft'.

THE VIKING PERIOD

48 to the

numerous

raids

on churches and

religious houses

as a proof of the Vikings' hostility to Christianity, but these attacks were much more likely to have originated in

the

amount

of treasure

which the raiders knew to be stored

It is rather in this light, too, that we must regard Turgeis' expulsion of the abbot Farannan from Armagh (in 839), and his subsequent usurpation of the

in these places.

abbacy,

and

than as an attempt to stamp out Christianity

1

establish heathenism in its stead.

Yet, at the same time, the Norsemen must have come into " " contact with the religion of the White Christ

close

through their intercourse with the Irish. Indeed, an entry Annals of Ulster (A.D. 872), referring to the death

in the

famous Viking died a Christian. 2 The records are silent on this point with regard to Olaf the White, although he was related by marriage to Ketill Flatnose, a famous chief in the Hebrides, all of whose family, with the exception of his son, Bjorn the of f varr the Boneless, implies that this

Easterner, adopted Christianity. Olaf 's wife, Authr, daughter of Ketill, was one of the most zealous of these early Norse " converts She used to pray at Crossknolls, where she :

was baptized, and was a her death she gave orders that she good Christian." Before was to be buried on the seashore, between high and low had

crosses erected, because she

water-mark, because she did not wish to

lie

in unconsecrated

ground. The Landndmabdk also says that for some time after her death her kinsfolk reverenced these knolls, but in course of time their faith

1

War

Cf.

became corrupt, and

in the

same

of the Gaedhil with the Gaill, p. 8.

2

The expression used is quievit in Christo and occurs only in MS. A As neither A/5. B nor any of the other annals mention Ivarr's .

it may be that the scribe of the former has unintentionally slipped into using a formula which was mistomary in recording the death ol a Christian.

conversion

THE VIKINGS AND THE CELTIC CHURCH

49

1 place they built a temple and offered up sacrifices. hear, too, of OrJygr the Old, who had been fostered

Bishop Patrick in the Hebrides.

When "

We by

he was setting out

wood for building a Bishop gave him church, a plenarium, an iron penny and some consecrated earth to be put under the corner pillars," and asked him for Iceland the

to dedicate the church to St. Columba.

On

the voyage a

great storm arose. Orlygr prayed to St. Patrick that he might reach Iceland in safety, promising, as a thanksgiving, to call the place in which he should land by the saint's name. 8 Mention is also made of several other Christians from the British Isles Jorundr, Helgi Bjola 3 Thorkell " son of Svarkell from Caithness who prayed before the :

;

ever good to old men, ever good to young men "* As61f, Ketill grandson of Ketill Flatnose who was surnamed hinn fiflski (' the foolish ') because he adhered to

cross,

;

5

A long time after (c. A.D. 997) Thangbrandr " the Priest found descendants of Ketill's in Iceland, all Christianity.

6

whom had

of

been

Christians

from father to

son." 7

Considering the missionary ardour of the Irish at this period curious that no priests accompanied these early settlers to Iceland. This may have been due to scepticism as to the

it is

such, at least, is the impression received from the Irish annals and chronicles, in which the

sincerity of these converts

;

'

'

Norsemen are almost invariably referred to as heathens and The result was that the influence of pagans.' " some of those who came Christianity declined in Iceland '

;

from west-the-sea remained Christians until the day of l Landndmab6k, *Landnamab6k,

3

Ib., V.,

*/&., 5

6

7

I.,

II., ch. 16. I.,

ch. 12.

ch. 15. ch. 13.

I., ch. 15. IV., ch. n. Njdls Saga, ch 101.

7b.,

/b.,

THE VIKING PERIOD

50

" but their families says the Landndmabdk, did not always retain the faith, for some of their sons erected

their death

"

temples and offered sacrifices, and the land was wholly heathen for nearly one hundred and twenty years." 1 In the transition from heathenism to Christianity

opposing beliefs were sometimes held at the same time the Viking continued to have recourse to Thor even after he had been baptized. Helgi the Lean, son of Eyvindr the ;

Easterner, and Rafarta, daughter of King Cearbhall of " was very mixed in his faith he believed in

Ossory,

;

but he invoked Thor for seafaring and brave deeds. When he came in sight of Iceland he asked Thor where " and when he had built his house, he should settle down Christ,

;

"

made

a large fire near every lake and river, thus sanctithe all land between. . Helgi believed in Christ, and fying therefore named his house after Him."* We also read that

he

.

.

"

Orlygr the Old and his family trusted in Columba,"* but whether they abandoned all other belief in the Christian faith and fell into Paganism is not quite clear. Again, in the account of the naval battle between Danes and Norse-

men how

in Carlingford

"

Lough

(A.D. 852) the annalist describes

Lord Horm," leader

men

"

of the

"

Danish

to

:

1

Landt}dmab6k, V., ch. /&., III., ch. 12. /&., I., ch. 12.

15.

to

forces, advised

"

the Patrick, pray fervently of the whose and head saints of churches Erin," archbishop and monasteries the Norsemen had plundered and burned. So the Danes put themselves under the protection of the " " saint be the holy Let our protector," they cried, Patrick and the God who is lord over him also, and let our spoils and our wealth be given to his church." After the battle ambassadors from the drd-ri found the Danes seated round a great fire, cooking their food in cauldrons which his

St.

THE VIKINGS AND THE CELTIC CHURCH

51

were supported on the dead bodies of the Norsemen, while " near by was a trench full of gold and silver to give to "

were a Danes," adds the chronicler, with kind could a of for while a refrain people piety they from meat and from women." 1 Patrick

for the

;

;

This confusion of the two religions

also illustrated in

is

the crosses, symbols of Christianity, which the Vikings erected in the north of England and in the Isle of Man to the

memory

of their kinsfolk.

Cumberland a representation influenced

by

On

the Gosforth cross in

of the Crucifixion

Celtic designs

is

obviously

found side by side with a

figure of the god Vitharr slaying the Wolf, a scene described in Vafthnithnismal while on the western side ;

A

of the cross is portrayed the punishment of L,oki. 2 fragment of a cross in the same locality shows Thor fishing for the Mithgarthsormr, 3 a subject which is also treated

on a

Kirk Bride Parish Church,

cross slab in

the

Among

many

other Celtic crosses in

Man

Isle of

Man. 4

are four

upon

which are carved pictures from the story of Sigurthr Fafnisbani Sigurthr roasting the dragon's heart on the fire and cooling his fingers in his mouth, his steed Grani and the tree with the talking birds another figure has been :

;

5 throwing stones at the Otter.

identified with Loki

There

are besides twenty-six crosses with Runic inscriptions, six of which bring out the Viking connection with the Celtic

Church. On one the Ogam alphabet is scratched, and the same monument bears a Runic inscription which tells us " that Mai Lumkun (Ir. Mael I/omchon) raised this cross i-Three 2 Cf.

Fragments of Annals, pp. 120-124.

Gylfaginning, chs. 51, 52.

3

Cf.

H^miskvithc,, pass. at Gosforth, p. 168. P. 6

M.

Ib.,

C.

\V.

Kermode Manx

pp. 170-179.

:

S.

Calverley

Crosses, pp.

:

The Ancient Crosses

180-184.

THE VIKTNG PERIOD to his foster (mother) Malmuru (Ir. Maelmuire), daughter of Tufgal (Ir. Dubhgall), whom Athisl had to wife." To this " the nine writer adds It is better to leave a good foster:

son than a bad son." 1

Crosses were also erected

by Mail Athakan (Ir. Aedhacan) the smith 2 by Thorleifr Hnakki in remembrance of his son Fiak (Ir. Fiacca) s and by an unknown Norseman to Brikti

Mael Brigde), son

(Ir.

of

;

;

the

memory

of his wife Murkialu

(Ir.

commemorates Athmiul

cross-slab

(?

Muirgheal). Ir.

4

Another

Cathmaoil), wife

6 Druian), son of Tufkal, while still another stone contains a fragment of a prayer to Christ, and the Irish saints, Malaki (Malachy), Bathrik

of Truian

(i.e.,

the Pictish

name

and Athanman (Adamnan). 6 The advance of Christianity during the tenth century

(Patrick),

be attributed to a large extent to the prevalence of the practice known as prime-signing or marking with the sign of the cross. According to Eyrbyggja Saga (ch. 50), "

may

this

was

common custom among merchants and men

a

mercenary who were

soldiers in Christian armies, because those '

'

could associate with Christians prime-signed as well as heathens, while retaining that faith which they the Norse kings who reigned in century seem to have accepted When Gothfrith plundered Armagh in 919 Christianity. " he spared the church and the houses of prayer, with their

liked best."

Dublin

Nearly

during

company of culdees 1

z 3 4 6 6

Ib.,

Ib.,

pp. pp. pp. pp.

Ib.,

p.

lb., Ib.,

all

this

(ceile-de)

and the sick." 7

We may assume

86-95, 195-199150-153-

203-205. 209-213. 169.

pp. 212-213. The ''Annals of Ulster, A.D. 919. Gothfrith's death (A.D. 933) speaks of Ib.,

the Norsemen."

same source in recording him as " the most cruel of

THE VIKINGS AXD THE CELTIC CHURCH

53

that Sihtric Gale, Gothfrith's brother (or cousin) was also a Christian, since he formed a friendly alliance with Aethel-

who gave him his sister in marriage. In 943 Olaf Cuaran was baptized, and in the same year Rognvaldr, another Norse prince, was confirmed. 2 After the battle of Tara (980) Olaf went on pilgrimage to lona, where he " died after penance and a good life." 3 His daughter and grandson were called by distinctively Irish Christian names Maelmuire* (servant of Mary), and Gilla Ciarain 6 (servant 1

stan,

We may

of St. Ciaran). half-Irish

Ua

name

of

name

also note the

which occurs in the royal family

of

a priest in Clonmacnois,

who must have been

Tomrair,

Gilla-Padraig

Waterford 8 and the of

Connmhach

Norse

extrac-

tion. 7

But

all traces of heathenism in Ireland had not disappeared the end of the tenth century. An interesting relic was by Thor's ring (Ir. fail Tomhair) which was carried off from

Dublin by King Maelsechnaill II. in 994. 8 This must have been the dom-hringr, so frequently alluded to in Icelandic literature. It was a ring of silver or gold, about twenty ounces in weight, which lay upon an altar in the temple, except during ceremonies, when it was worn on the priest's arm. 9 Upon this ring oaths were usually sworn. 10 That it was connected with the worship of Thor is clear from a passage 1

*

the

in

Ib.,

MSS.

Annals of

*

Ib., A.D.

6

War

8

Annals of

8 9

called

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, MS.D., A.D. 925.

9

7

Landndmabdk describing a place

Four Masters,

A.D. 979.

1021.

of the Gaedhil with the Gaill, p. 207. the Four Masters, A.D. 982.

ion.

Ib., A.D. Ib.,

A., 942, D. 943. the

A.D. 994.

Eyrbyggja Saga, chs. 4 and 10

lQ Cf.

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle,

Saga, ch. 2

;

etc.

;

Kjalnesinga Saga, ch. 2; eta. Atmal, A.D. 876, Kjalnesinga

MS. A.

THE VIKING PERIOD

54

"

Thorsnes in Iceland there still stands Thor's stone, on which were broken the backs of those men who were :

about to be sacrificed, and close by is the ddmhringr where the men were condemned to death." 1 Even as late as the year A.D. 1000 we hear of Thor's wood (caill Tomair) north of Dublin, which was laid waste by Brian Borumha after the battle of

The

Gleann Mama. 2

battle of Clontarf (A.D. 1014)

as a great fight between

point of It

view

true

is

is

frequently represented

Pagan and

Christian, but this

hardly confirmed by the historical facts. that the Norsemen numbered among their is

prominent upholders of heathenism as Sigurthr, earl of Orkney, and Broder who had been a " now worshipped fiends, and was of all mass-deacon, but men most skilled in sorcery," yet it must be remembered that the Leinstermen, under their king Maelmordha, also formed part of the Norse army on the same occasion. Moreover, both the Norse and Irish accounts of the battle agree that Gormflaith, who had been the wife of Brian Borumha, supporters such

inspired

by hatred

of Brian,

was mainly responsible

for the

renewal of hostilities between the two peoples. Her son, Sihtric Silken Beard, who was most active in mobilising the Norse troops, must have been a Christian, since the coins

which were minted in Dublin during

his

reign are

stamped with the sign of the cross. In 1028 he visited Rome, and there is record of another visit some years later. s His death is entered in the Annals under the year 1042, in which same year his daughter, a nun in an Irish convent, also died.* It

was probably on

1

his return to

Dublin from

Laiirfndmab6k, II., ch. 12. of the GaedhiJ with the Gaill, pp. 106, 198. Annals of Tigernach, An. 1028, 1036. * Ib., A.D. 1042. z z

Wa*

Rome

in

THE VIKINGS AND THE CELTIC CHURCH 1036 that Sihtric gave

"

55

a place on which to build a church known as Christchurch

of the Blessed Trinity," afterwards

Cathedral, and build it."

"

contributed gold and silver wherewith to

1

Norsemen would seem to have regarded the Church with no friendly feelings. The first Norse bishop, Dunan or Donatus, was on intimate terms with Lanfranc, and when the next bishop, Patrick, was chosen by the clergy and people of Dublin, he was sent, with a " " to I/anfranc bounden obedience letter professing their 2 His successors, Donatus for consecration (A.D. 1074). (d. 1095), Samuel (d. 1121), and Gregory (d. 1162) were also consecrated at Canterbury, and acknowledged the supremacy

The

Irish

of the archbishop.

An

interesting letter addressed to the

Canterbury by the priests and citizens of Archbishop " You know," the letter Dublin in 1121 is still extant of

:

"

that the bishops of Ireland, more especially the of Bishop Armagh, is extremely angry with us because we will not submit to his decrees, and because we always wish runs,

to remain under your authority. 3 Bishoprics were founded at Waterford later

than in Dublin. Malcus, the

first

and Wexford

Bishop of Waterford,

was consecrated at Canterbury, and on his arrival in Waterford in 1096, he began to build a church, dedicated, like that of Dublin, to the Holy Trinity. 4

Some years later we hear of a Bishop of Limerick, Gilla or Gilbert, who does not seem to have been consecrated in England, but who was in close touch with the Archbishop l

The Whole Works of Sir James Ware Concerning Ireland, Vol I., (Ware quotes from the Black Book of Christchurch Cathedral,

p. 301.

Dublin.) a

306. pp. 309-311*Ib., pp. 525-6.

8

lb.,

Ib.,

p.

THE VIKING PERIOD

56

He

was who convoked the synod at was decided to divide Ireland into dioceses "there," says Keating, "the sees and dioceses of the bishops of Ireland were regulated Dublin was excluded, because it was not customary for its bishop to receive consecration except from the Archbishop of Canterbury."* Limerick and Waterford were placed under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Cashel, but this decree seems to have been of Canterbury. 1

Rathbresail, at which

it

it

:

;

ignored

by the people

of Limerick, for they elected their

way and sent him 3 It is uncertain whether the England for consecration. Waterford people obeyed, as the records merely mention the names of the succeeding bishops. A still more important synod was held at Kells in 1132. There the decision of the previous synod regarding the division of the country into dioceses was ratified, and archbishoprics were established at Dublin, Armagh, Cashel, and Tuam. Henceforth the bishops of Dublin, Limerick, and Waterford were consecrated in Ireland, and this marked the close of the connection between Canterbury and the next bishop, Patrick, in the ordinary to

Celtic Church. 1

504.

/&., p.

Cf.

chs. 5

J.

MacCaffrey

and

:

The Black Book of Limerick.

*The History of Ireland, Vol. III., p. 298. 8

Introduction,

7.

War$, op.

cit., p.

505.

by Geoffrey Keating

(ed. P. S.

Diuneen).

CHAPTER

VIII.

LITERARY INFLUENCE: THE SAGAS OF ICELAND AND IRELAND. I.

THE most

interesting branch of early Norse literature is the saga or prose story. Of these there are many varieties but the most distinctive are the following (i) the Islendinga :

relating to prominent Icelanders, (2) Konunga Sogur, or stories of Kings, chiefly of Norway ; (3) Fomaldar Sogur, or stories about early times. All these

Sogur,

or

stories

essentially Icelandic in origin sagas having their origin in Norway are by no means unknown, but they are, as a rule, translated or derived from French and other

are

;

1 In their present form the sagas relating foreign sources. to the history of Iceland date for the most part from the thirteenth century, though some of them were probably

committed to writing

The record

in the latter part of the twelfth. document of which we have any

earliest Icelandic is

the original text of the Laws, said to have been

written in the year 1181.

Ari's Islendinga-Bok, containing

1 It has been stated (cf. E. Mogk Geschichte (Lr NorwegischIsldndischen Literatur. Strassburg, 1904, p. 830) that many of Saxo's stories came from Nonvay, where they had been collected by an Icelander in the twelfth century. There can be no doubt that stories of some kind relating to families and localities especially stories which accounted, or professed to account for local names were current in Nonvay down to this time. Such stories form the basis of many of the Fomaldar Sogur, but hi all probability these had been familiar to Icelanders from the first settlement of the island, or at least during the tenth century. have no evidence that they :

We

ever gained literary form in Norway. Norske Litteraturs Historic, II., p. 791.)

57

(Cf.

Finnur Jonsson

:

Old

THE VIKING PERJOD

58

a short account of the settlement of Iceland with notices

more important events, and accounts of the succession lawmen and bishops, was written a few }-ears later, though the form in which it has come down to us is that of an

of the of

abbreviated text written about the year 1130. This work, the foundation of all subsequent historical writing in Iceland, contains some short notices, which apparently

had been handed down by tradition, but these stories, usually known as sagas, would seem to have been written down somewhat later. Indeed until the close of the twelfth century the language employed for historical writings in Iceland, as elsewhere,

was

for the

most part Latin.

of the sagas did not begin until the latter part of the twelfth century, sagas in some form or other must have been in existence much earlier, carried

Though the writing

on from generation to generation by oral tradition. This faculty of reciting sagas was a special characteristic of the In the Icelanders, by whom it was carefully cultivated. preface to his Historia Danica Saxo acknowledges his indebtedness to the

"

men

of Thule,"

who

"

account

it

a

delight to learn and to consign to remembrance the history of all nations, deeming it as great a glory to set forth the

excellence of others as to display their own. Their stores, which are stocked with attestations of historical events, I have examined somewhat closely and have woven together no small portion of the present work by following their

narrative." 1

That the art of storytelling did not decline in Iceland even after the majority of the sagas were written down is l

The First Nine Books of

Translated by Oliver Elton

the

Danish History of Saxo Grammaticus.

fed.

by

F.

York Powell,

p. 5).

It is

not

whether Saxo had Icelandic manuscripts before him, but his words leave no doubt that he was aware of the fact that stories bad been carried on by oral tradition.

cltar

LITEEAEY INFLUENCE

59

by Stiirlunga Saga. Here we are told that when Sturla visited King Magnus' court at Bergen in 1263 the king received him coldly, but afterwards allowed him to attested

accompany the royal party on a voyage to the south of Norway. In the evening one of the sailors asked if there was anyone among them who could tell stories, but he "

He

received no answer.

turned to Sturla, Sturla, the " " will entertain ? us Icelander, you Willingly," said Then he related the story of Huld 1 better and Sturla.

much more

than any of those present had ever Then many men made their way to the deck so as to hear as clearly as possible, and there was a great crowd there. The queen asked: "What is that with

heard

it

detail

told before.

"

"

A man

Men who are answered, " tale the to the Icelander is What telling." listening " " that ? It about a is she asked. is story great giantess crowd on the deck

?

;

a good story and well told." queen sent for Sturla and asked

it is

On

the following day the him to come and bring

with him the saga of the giantess. 2 So Sturla went aft to the quarterdeck and told the story over again. When he had finished, the queen and many of the listeners thanked

him and took him to be a learned and wise man. 3 A much earlier reference to the recitation, and indeed the composition of sagas is found in Thorgils Saga ok Haflitha, in which there is an account of a wedding-feast at Reykholar in 1119 "

:

There was fun and merriment and great

festivity,

and

1 This was probably something in the nature of a fairy-tale like the Huldre-eventyr of modern Norway. We may refer to the story of the witch Huldr given in Ynglinga Saga (ch. 16), and to the supernatural being Hold a or Holle in German folk-lore. " From these words Finnur hafa meth ser trollkonu-soguna." Jonsson (op. cit., II., p. 792) concludes that Sturla possessed a written copy of the saga.

*Sturlunga Saga,

II.,

pp. 270-271.

THE VIKING PERIOD

60

kinds of amusements, such as dancing, wrestling and Hrolfr of Skalmarnes told a story about Hrongvithr the Viking, and Olaf the sailor's king,' and all

story-telling.

.

.

.

'

about the rifling of the barrow of Thrainn the berserkr, and about Hromundr Gripsson, and he included many verses in his story. King Sverrir used to be entertained with this story, and he declared that fictitious stories like these were the most entertaining of any and yet there are ;

men who

can trace their ancestry to Hromundr Gripsson.

Hr61fr had put this saga together. Ingimundr the priest told the story of Ormr, the poet of Barrey and included

many verses in it, besides a good poem which Ingimundr had composed, therefore many learned men regard this 1 saga as true." The former of these stories

is

the

Hromundr a Saga which

belongs to the class commonly called Fornaldar Sogur.* Still further back in the reign of Harald Hardradith (10471066)

we have

telling.

summer received

a most important allusion to the art of story3 According to the saga a young Icelander came one

King Harald seeking his protection. The king him into his court on the understanding that he

to

should entertain the household during the winter.

became very popular, and received of the household and from the king

gifts

He

soon

from members

Just before Christmas the king noticed that the Icelander seemed dejected, and he asked the reason. The Icelander replied himself.

'

was because of his uncertain temper.' That is not so," said the king. ..." I think your stock of sagas must be exhausted, because you have entertained us all through the winter, whenever you were called upon that "

it

*Thorgil's Saga ok Haflitha (Sturlunga Saga, Vol.

I.,

p.

19).

8

Fornaldar Sogur; Vol. II., p. 323. *Harald's Hardrada Snga, ch. 99 (Fornmanna 354-356;.

S"$ur,

VI.,

pp.

LITER ABY INFLUENCE

61

Now you are worried because your sagas have come to an end at Christmas time, and you do not wish to tell the same over again." " You have guessed rightly," said the Icelander. " I know only one more saga, but I dare not tell it here, because to do so:

the story of your adventures abroad." is the saga I particularly want to hear," said the king, and he asked the Icelander to begin it on Christmas it is

"

That

Day and tell a part of it every day. During the Christmas season there was a good deal of discussion about the entertainment.

Some

the Icelander to

king would

like it

it was presumption on the part of the saga and they wondered how the others thought it was well told, but others

said tell ;

again thought less of

When

it.

the saga was finished, the

who had

listened attentively throughout, turned to king, " Are you not curious to know, the storyteller and said " Icelander, how I like the saga ? " I am afraid to ask," replied the storyteller. " The king said I think you have told it very well. :

:

Where did you to

"

get the material for

you ? The Icelander answered

" :

it,

When

and who taught

it

in Iceland I used to

go every summer to the Thing, and each summer I learned a portion of the saga from Halldor Snorrason." " Then it is not surprising that you know it so well, it from him," said the king. in fact see the origin of the Islendinga Sogur in certain passages of the sagas themselves. In Fdstbroethra

since

you have learned

We may

Saga, for instance, the story is told of an Icelander named Thormothr, who went to Greenland in order to avenge the

death of his foster-brother Thorgeirr. On one occasion he asleep in his booth, and when he awoke some time later

fell

he found, to his surprise, that the place was quite deserted.

Then

his servant Eidll

"

the foolish

"

came

to

him and

62

THE VIKING PERIOD "

You are too far ofi from a great entertainment." " Thormothr asked Where have you come from and what is the entertainment ? " " I have been to Thorgrimr Einarsson's Egill replied booth and most of the people who are attending the Thing are there now." " Thormothr asked What form of amusement have said

:

:

:

:

they

" ?

Egill "

answered

"

Thorgrimr

:

is

telling

a saga."

About whom is the saga ? " asked Thormothr. " That I do not know clearly," replied Egill, " but I know that he tells it well and in an interesting manner. He is sitting on a chair outside his booth and the people are all around him listening to the saga." " Thormothr said But you must know the name of some man who is mentioned in the saga, especially since :

you think

so entertaining." " certain Thorgeirr was a great hero in the saga, and I think that Thorgrimr himself must have had some connection with it, and played a brave part in it

Egill replied

it,

as

is

most

A

:

likely.

I

wish you would go there and

listen

to the entertainment." 1

Then Thormothr and Egill went to Thorgrimr's booth and stood close by listening to the saga, but they could not hear it very distinctly. Thormothr had, however, understood from Egill's remarks that this was the same Thorgrimr who had slain his foster-brother and was now recounting his exploits for the amusement of the crowd. More famous is the scene in Njdls Saga where Gunnar Lambi's son, who has just arrived at Earl Sigurthr's palace the Orkneys is called upon to tell the story of the burning of Nj all's homestead.

in

1

Fostbroethra Saga, ch. 23.

63

LITERARY INFLUENCE

;

"

The men were so pleased that King Sigtryggr [of Dublin] sat on a high seat in the middle, but on either side of the Now King Sitryggr and Earl king sat one of the earls. .

.

.

wished to hear of these tidings which had happened

Gille

what had befallen since. son, who had taken part in the tale, and a stool was set for him

at the burning, and so, also,

Then Gunnarr L/ainbi's burning was got to tell the to

sit

upon.

"

How did Skarphethinn bear the burning ? " " Well at first for a long time," said Gunnarr, but still the end of it was that he wept." And so he went on giving an unfair bias to his story, but every now and then he .

.

.

Now

King Sigtryggr asked

:

"

laughed aloud. Kari (Kjall's friend

who was

listening

outside)

could

not stand this and he then ran in with his sword drawn

.

.

.

and smote Gunnarr L/ambi's son on the neck with such a smart blow that his head spun off on to the board before the king and the earls. "... Now Flosi undertook to tell the story of the Burning and he was fair to all, and therefore what he said was believed." 1

For the way in which such generation

to

generation

stories

we may

were preserved from refer

"

to

the end of

Thorvaldr (born

c. Droplaugarsona Saga (L/j6svetninga) " son of one of the chief actors in the Grimr story 1006) " had a son called Ingjaldr. His son was named Thorvaldr, :

and he it was who told the story." 2 The passagee quoted from Njdla Saga and Fostbroethm Saga seem to show that the art of story-telling was already developed at the beginning of the eleventh century. In these 1

Njdls Saga (by G.

W.

Dasent), chs. 153, 154.

2

Droplaugarsona Saga (Ljosvetniuga Saga), Sogur, ed. Jakobsen).

p.

175

(

Ausifirthinga

THE VIKING PERIOD

64 instances,

by the

it is true,

we have only the records of events given by eyewitnesses, and we cannot

actors themselves or

be certain that such stories had assumed anything like a fixed form. Far more important is the passage from Harolds 1 Saga Hardrada, for there the story-teller was not an eyewitness, but had obtained the story, or the material for it,

from Halldor Snorrason, an Icelandic follower of King Harald. From what is said about the length of the saga, there can be no doubt that it had been worked up in a very elaborate way. For such elaborate secondhand stories we have no other definite evidence, but again, considering the time which the recital is said to have occupied, it would be unwise to conclude that this later form of the art was entirely new. We have, therefore, clearly to distinguish two stages in the history of the oral saga (i) the story as told by someone who had taken part in the events described (ii) the secondhand story. The story was soon embellished, especially ;

;

in the second stage, not merely with such devices as the records of conversation, but even by the introduction of

imaginary adventures. Indeed we need not assume that even in the first stage the stories were told in strict accordance with fact. Reference may be made, for instance, to the passage quoted above from Njdls Saga, where

Gunnarr Lambi's son

is

said to have told the story of the

Even

in the Islendinga and Konunga burning unfairly. not inconsiderable element in the fiction forms a Sogur :

Fornaldar Sogur

it is

ovbiously

much

greater.

good reason for believing that in the main This the Islendinga and Konunga Sogur are historical. the seen the between various be by may general agreement

Yet there

is

1

See pp. 60, 61, ante.

LITERARY INFLUENCE sagas, since the

65

same characters constantly reappear, and

inconsistency with regard to their circumstances or personal traits. Again, the description of houses, ships, weapons, and other articles seems generally to correspond there

is little

to those

known

There

refer.

more or

to date from the period to which the stories is, moreover, one feature which points to a

less fixed tradition

dating from the closing years towards those

of the tenth century, namely, the attitude

characters

who

figured prominently in the struggle between Thus there are indications

Christianity and heathenism.

that the rather unsympathetic representation of Harold Greycloak and his brothers may be due to the fact that they

were Christians.

Still

more

significant is the attitude of

the sagas towards Haakon the Bad, whose character seems to undergo a great change probably a reflection of the

change in the popular opinion of Christianity. Sagas like those of Egill and Kormak relating to the middle or first part of the twelfth century are few in number and usually contain a considerable amount of poetry in fact, the prose is not infrequently based upon the poetry. Stories dealing with early Icelandic history from A.D. 874 onwards and Norwegian history of the same period are much less full. In general they appear to be trustworthy, but the details are such as might have been preserved by local or family tradition without the special faculty which is ;

characteristic of the sagas. Of a totally different character are the sagas relating to times before the settlement of Iceland (A.D. 874). Some

such as Volsunga Saga and Hervarar Saga, deal with events as far back as the fifth century, and are, to a

of these,

great extent, paraphrases of poems, many of which have come down to us. Very frequently, too, whether based on

poems or 1

Cf.

not, the narrative bears the the references to

Uromundar

stamp

of fiction. 1

Saga, pp. 69, 70, ante.

THE VIKING PERIOD

66

Conditions in Iceland were especially favourable to the development of the art of story-telling, owing partly to the isolated position of the country itself and to the difficulties of communication across the wide tracts of land separating

the various settlements within

it,

partly also to the love of In Icelandic

travel which characterised its inhabitants. literature the recital of stories is

mentioned in connection

with public meetings such as the annual general assembly and with social gatherings at the "winter(Althingi) nights," the chief season for hospitality in Iceland, travellers

The

when

had returned from abroad.

Icelanders were famous, too, for the cultivation of

poetry. This art was evidently much practised in Norwa}in early times, but we hear of hardly any Norwegian poets after Eyvindr (c. 980), whereas in Iceland poetry flourished Icelandic poets were for a considerable period after this.

received with favour not only in Norway, but elsewhere, England and Ireland. It has been stated

for instance, in

that sagas dealing with the early part of the tenth century owe a good deal to poetry, while stories relating to times earlier

than the settlement of Iceland are often almost on poetic sources. Moreover, the culti-

entirely dependent

vation of poetry probably contributed very largely to the development of the faculty of story-telling, and the two arts

may have

been practised by the same person. we have no precise information.

On

this

point, however,

II.

Yet the remarkable fact that this faculty of story-telling was peculiar to the Icelanders alone among the Teutonic It can hardly be still remains to be explained. without significance that the only parallel in Europe for such a form of literature is to be found in Ireland.

peoples

From

the allusions to this type of composition in old

LITERARY INFLUENCE

67

would seem to have existed at a very its very origin is obscure. There early period " is, for example, mention of a king's company of story " in the eight lines of satirical verse, said to have tellers been composed by the poet Cairbre on Bress, the niggardly Irish literature it ;

so early, that

1 king of the Formorians. was one of the Story-telling

many

attractions of the great

aonachs or fairs which played the same part in the national life of Ireland as the things or popular assemblies in Iceland. From the poem on the ancient fair of Carman preserved

Book of Ballymote, we can form an idea of the entertainment provided by the professional story-teller " The tales of Fianna of Erin, a never- wearying enter-

in the

:

tainment

stories of destructions, cattle-preys, courtships,

:

rhapsodies, battle-odes, royal precepts and the truthful instructions of Fithil the sage the wide precepts of Coirfic :

and Cormac." 2 The Book of Leinster

that

states

the

poet

who had

preserved in the Book of the Dun Cow (twelfth form of the language in which it is written is indeed, the meaning of the considerably earlier than this date verses would be quite obscure if we did not possess explanatory 1

The poem

is

century), but the

;

glosses. Cf. D'Arbois

de Jubainville The Irish Mythological Cycle, p. 96 A Literarv History of Ireland, also D. Hyde (Best's translation) p. 285. There is a possible reference to an Irish storyteller in an inscription on a stone cross at Bridgend (Glamorganshire). The inscription, :

:

:

which is thought to date from the seventh century, runs ( Co)nbellini Rhys takes possuit hanc crucem pro anima eius Scitliuissi scitlivissi to be an Irish word, a compound oiviss (Ir.fis, knowledge ') and scitl (scetlon, seel, a 'story,' 'news') and surmises that scitliviss might mean a messenger,' a bringer of news,' a scout.' :

.

.

.

'

'

'

'

Celtic Britain, pp. 313-315.) But scitliviss can also be explained as one who knows stories." In that case we might infer that storytelling was a profession in Ireland as early as the seventh century (Cf. '

;

but the reading appears to be too uncertain to justify us in attaching any great importance to the inscription. 2 O'Curry Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish, II., p. 543. :

THE VIKING PERIOD

68

bound to know for recital two hundred and fifty tales of prime 1 importance (prim-scela), and one hundred secondary ones. The same source gives the names of one hundred and eighty-seven of these tales, the majority of which have not come down to us. These include stories from the three attained the rank of ollamh was

to kings

and

chieftains

great cycles of legend, viz., that relating to the gods to Cuchulain and the warriors of the Red Branch, and to Finn and Fianna. A number of stories relating to the kings of ;

Ireland mentioned in this

list

have an

historical basis

;

while there are others purporting to deal with kings as far back as 1000 B.C., which are no doubt partly imaginary,

and were invented to arouse popular

interest in the past

lu'story of the country. know of several stories

We

and poems about kings and a prominent part in the wars against list in The Book of Leinster mentions

who played

chieftains

the Vikings. The only one, The Love of Gormflaith for Niall (i.e., Xiall Glundubh (d. 919), a summary of which is contained in

the

mediaeval

translation

English In the

of

The

Annals

of

The Victorious Career of Cellachan of Cashel, it is difficult to say whether this was originally an oral narrative committed to writing for the first time in the fifteenth century, or whether it was copied from an older manuscript, now lost. Brian Borumha and his sons are the principal characters in The Leeching of dan's Leg, a tale preserved in a sixteenth century manu-

Clonmacnois.

script.* 1

case

of

It is interesting to note here the presence of a

O'Curry

:

Lectures on the

MS.

Materials of Irish History, pp. 243,

583-

'Printed in Silva Gadelica

(ed.

Standish O'Grady), Vol.

I.,

pp.

296-305. Stories of Brian and his sons are still current in the Gaelic-speaking districts of Ireland. (See Zeitschrift fur Celtische Philologie, Band I., They are, however, more likely to be folk tales, in pp. 477-492.)

LITERARY INFLUENCE

69

strong folk element which would seem to point towards a popular, not a literary origin.

At the close of the tenth century story-telling was in high favour in Ireland, and the professional story-teller was able not only to recite any one of the great historical tales, but to improvise, if the occasion arose. Mac Coisse, the poet attached to the court of Maelsechnaill II., tells in an interesting prose work how his castle at Clartha (Co. Westmeath) was once plundered by the O'Neills of Ulster.

He

immediately set out for Aileach in order to obtain compensation from the head of the clan, King Domhnall O'Neill (d. 978). On his arrival, he was received with great honour and brought into the king's presence. In response

DomhnaH's request for a story, Mac Coisse mentioned names of a large number of tales including one called The Plunder of the Castle of Maelmilscotach. This was the only one with which the king was unfamiliar, so he asked to

the

the storyteller to relate it. In it Mac Coisse described, under the form of an allegory, the plundering of his castle

by

the king's kinsmen.

When

he had finished he confessed

that he himself was Maelmilscotach 1 and he begged the king to grant him full restitution of his property. This ,

the king agreed to do, and the grateful poet then recited a poem of eighteen stanzas which he had composed about

the king and his family. 2 which the deeds of mythical heroes have been transferred to historical people, than sagas transmitted by oral tradition from generation to generation. 1

2

" i.e.,

son of the honeyed words," a poet. Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish,

O'Curry

130-135-

:

II.,

pp..

THE VIKING PERIOD

70

III.

The resemblance which we have noted between Icelandic and Irish customs seem to justify us in suggesting that they may be due in part to some influence exercised by the one people upon the other. There is in fact a certain amount which renders such influence probable. We that Irish poets and storytellers were welcome guests at the court of the Scandinavian kings in Ireland. In an of evidence

know

x elegy on Mathgamain, Brian's brother, one of the Munster bards, says he finds it difficult to reproach the foreigners

because of his friendship with Dubhcena, Ivarr's son.* And during the lifetime of Brian, Mac Liag, Brian's chief poet, and Mac Coisse, poet and storyteller to Maelsechnaill II., visited the court of Sigtryggr and remained there for

a whole year. On their departure they gave expression to their feelings of regret in a poetical dialogue :

Mac

Liag

It is time for us to return to our homes,

:

We

have been here a whole year Though short to you and me may seem ;

This our sojourn in Dublin, Brian of Banba deems it too long That he listens not to my eloquence.*

Another poem Scandinavians

of

of

Mac

I/iag's, in

Dublin

as

"

which he addresses the

the

descendants

of

the

warriors of Norway," was also composed in Dublin, at the court of Olaf of the golden shields,' soon after the battle '

of Clontarf. 4 1

Mathgamain was murdered

Limerick

*War

at the instigation of

in 976.

of the Gaedhil with the Gaill, pp. 98-99.

O'Cnrry, op. *Ibid., II., p.

cit., II.,

125.

p.

128

King Ivarr

of

LITERARY INFLUENCE

On

71

the other hand Icelandic sources mention at least

three skalds

who made

tenth century

:

their

way

Thorgils Orraskdld,

to Ireland during the " who was with Olaf

Cuaran in Dublin, 1 and Kormak (Ir. Cormac) who fought with Harold Greycloak in Ireland (c. 961). a In Gunnlaugs Saga Ormstungtt

(ch. 8)

there

is

a charming account of the

became Gunnlaug went before the king and said have composed a poem about you, and I would like to

poet's reception in Dublin, shortly after Sigtryggr

king " I

(c.

994)

:

:

get a hearing for it."

The king answered me, and I

" :

No man has yet made a poem about

will certainly listen to yours."

"

Then Gunnlaug recited his poem in praise of Cuaran's son," and the king thanked him for it. " How Sigtryggr then called his treasurer and asked " shall I reward him for this poem ? " As you will, lord," replied the treasurer. " " asked the Shall I give him two merchant-ships ? :

king. "

That

give, as

" other kings too much," said the treasurer, rewards for songs, costly gifts, good swords or is

gold rings." So the king gave Gunnlaug his own garments of new scarlet cloth, a tunic ornamented with lace, a cloak lined furs, and a gold ring which weighed a mark. Gunnlaug remained for a short time there and then went

with choice

to the Orkneys. It is to be noted, too, that among the original settlers in Iceland there were a not inconsiderable number who

came from Ireland and the Scotland.

islands off the west coast of

These included some of the most important

^Landndmabok, I., ch. 19. ^ Kormak' s Saga, ch. 19.

THE VIKING PERIOD

72

We

families in the country. may mention especially Authr, of Olaf the White, king of Dublin, with her brothers Ketill the Foolish, Bjorn, Helgi Bj61a and all their families

widow

Helgi the Lean who had been the Hebrides, partly in Ireland, 2 Not a few of Jorundr the Christian and Orlygr the Old. these were partly of Irish stock such as Helgi the Lean,

and dependants x brought up partly ;

Askell

also

Hnokkan and

in

his brother Vilbaldr

who were

descen-

dants of Cearbhall, king of Ossory (d. 877). 3 Sometimes we hear of settlers who were of pure Gaelic blood, like Kalman 4 Colman) from the Hebrides, and Erpr, son of a Scottish and Myrgjol (Ir. Muirgheal), daughter of 6 Gliomall, an Irish king. It has been urged 7 that the persons mentioned in the Landndmabdk as coming from Ireland and Scotland form a very small percentage of the whole number of settlers. But we have to remember that by no means all the colonists are mentioned in the records and genealogies. There can be no doubt that a number of slaves and f reedmen accompanied the more important settlers to Iceland, and of these probably the great majority were of Celtic blood. Their numbers, too, were being continually reinforced during the tenth century.

(Ir.

earl Maelduin, 6

how many they were, because in the case of thralls Icelandic names were not It is difficult, however, to estimate

infrequently substituted for Irish ones. Thus, of the Irish thralls whom Hjorleifr brought to Iceland only one,

Dufthakr, had a Gaelic name. 1

2

8

Cf. Landndmabok, Landndmabdk, V., Ib.,

IV., ch.

*Ib., II., ch. /&., II.. ch.

II., ch. 16, etc.

ch. 15.

n. i.

16.

*Ib., II., ch. 16. 7

Finnur Jonsson, op. cil., II., pp. 187-188 (n) ; Zeitschrift fur Cellische Philologie, Band I., p. 441.

W.

A. Craigie

:

LITERARY INFLUENCE

Such slaves were not always people Gilli

Giolla), the slave

(Ir.

who

73

humble

origin.

killed Thorsteinn,

son of

of

Hallr 1 of Side, was a descendant of Cearbhall, king of Ossory. Mention is made elsewhere of Nithbjorg, daughter of the Irish king Biolan (Ir. Beollan) who was carried off from Ireland

a

in

raid

2

also of Melkorka, King daughter, who was bought from a slave dealer in Norway. 8 Icelandic custom did not necessarily

Viking

;

Myrkjartan's

prevent the children of slave women from becoming persons of wealth and influence indeed Osvifr, son of Nithbjorg and Olaf Pai, son of Melkorka, were among the leading men in Iceland in their time. It is not unreasonable, then, ;

to suppose that

had found

its

by the end

of the tenth century Irish

blood

a large number of Icelandic families. observe that the Irish and Icelandic

way into

Lastly we may sagas bear certain resemblances to one another which are at least worthy of attention.

In both cases the narrative

prose frequently interspersed with poetry, and in both the use of dialogue is a prominent feature. Nor is the subject matter dissimilar. Indeed it is possible to apply to the Irish is

a classification roughly similar to that which is adopted for the more important of the Icelandic sagas.* " " As far as the stories of the kings are concerned, the resemblance is most striking in the case of sagas relating

stories

to early times such as Ynglinga Saga. There are Irish to a certain extent to the stories, too, corresponding Islendinga Sdgur, though they are comparatively few in 1 " This Gilli was the son of j athguth, who was the son of Gilli, son of Bjathach (Ir. Blathach), son of King Kjarval of Ireland." Draumr Thorsteins Hallssonar, appendix. (Thorsten's Saga Sithu '

Siduhalssonar, Asmundarson's Ed., pp. 26, 27.

*Landndmabok, 8

II., ch.

Cf p. ante. .

* Cf. p. 66,

ante.

u.

THE VIKING PERIOD

74

number, while many of the Fornaldar Sogur

may

be said

to bear a certain resemblance to the Irish epic stories. The evidence discussed above seems to afford some ground

suspecting that the saga literature of Iceland and Ireland may not be wholly unconnected, and, as we have seen, the conditions of the time, particularly the frequent for

intercourse between the

two

countries,

were such as to

favour the exercise of literary influence by one people upon the other. If so, one can hardly doubt that in this case the influence

came to Iceland from

Ireland.

We have seen that the prose saga appears to have developed in Iceland in the course of the tenth century. There are indeed narratives relating both to the settlement 1

of Iceland

and

to

still

earlier events in

Norway. But

these,

in so far as they can be regarded as trustworthy traditions not embellished by fiction in later times are quite brief, and not far removed from such local or family traditions

as one could find in other parts of the world. The detailed and elaborate type of story which we dealt with in Section I.,

and which

is

the distinctive feature of Icelandic literature,

can hardly be traced back beyond the end of the tenth century.

The prose stories of doubt much

earlier.

on the other hand, are without Although we have few MSS. of Irish

Ireland,

prose dating from a period before the twelfth century, yet it is generally agreed that many of the forms preserved, the Tain Bo Cualnge e.g., in the Yellow Book of Lecan MS. of

must be derived from an

earlier

seventh or early eighth century. is

MS. of not later than the The oral saga in Ireland

therefore of great antiquity. may, of course, be argued that

It

spontaneously in Ireland, there 1

Cf. p.

is

if

the prose saga arose it should

no reason why

63 ante.

LITERARY INFLUENCE

75

But the may be due

not also have arisen independently in Iceland. existence of this form of literature in Ireland

to special circumstances for which Iceland offers no parallel. The oldest Irish sagas belong to that class of literature

known

as the heroic epic, a class which among the Teutonic peoples as indeed among all other European peoples

makes its first appearance in ment of this subject in Irish

verse. is all

The exceptional treatthe more remarkable in

view of the fact that among the Celtic peoples the file or professional minstrel occupied a distinguished position in society. It would be strange if the professional minstrel were not primarily concerned with heroic epic poetry in Ireland as in other countries, since in the times to which our records refer the recitation of the heroic prose epics was one of the chief functions of the

On

file.

we know nothing of the ancient forms The earliest poems that have come down to

the other hand,

of Irish poetry.

us have a metrical form which these

in the fifth

for the cultivation of this too appears to

in Irish literature,

is

not native.

and sixth centuries "

there

Earlier than is

evidence

rhetorics," or metrical prose,

but

be of foreign origin. 1 The unique feature namely, the fact that the early epic, as

down to us, appears in prose instead of poetry be at least in part, to the disappearance of native due, may metrical forms before the fifth century. It may be that the prose epics originated in paraphrases of early poems such as we find, for instance, in the Volsunga Saga, which is a

it

has come

paraphrase of older poems dealing with the story of Sigurthr. Or the change may have been more automatic, the outcome of a process of metrical dissolution similar to that of which the beginnings may be seen in certain Anglo-Saxon and

German poems. Such metrical dissolution would be favoured, J

See

Kuno Meyer

(Dublin, 1913).

:

Learning

in Ireland in the Fifth Century

THE VIKING PERIOD

76 if

not necessitated, by the extensive phonetic changes

which took place in Ireland this question it is

in the fifth century.

not necessary to enter here. It

But into

is sufficient

to point out that Irish Saga literature, according to appearances, began in the heroic epic, a form which in

all all

other literatures, including Norse, originated in poetry. The preservation of poetry, narrative or other, by oral

common enough phenomenon among many but the traditional prose narrative, except in such peoples, forms as Since we find folk-tales, is very rare. primitive it both in Ireland and Iceland and apparently in no other European countries and since we have found so many other connections between these two countries, the theory that the Icelandic Saga owes its origin, however indirectly, to the Irish Saga, seems to deserve more serious consideration from scholars than it has yet received. tradition is a

BIBLIOGRAPHY. i.

Annals of Clonmacnois, ed. by Rev. D. J. Murphy. Dublin, 1896. Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland by the Four Masters (Vols. I. and II.), ed. by J. O'Donovan, Dublin, 1856. Three Fragments of Irish Annals, ed.

by

O'Donovan.

J.

Dublin,

1860.

Annals of Tigernach, XVII.).

ed.

by Whitley Stokes (Revue

Celtique,

XVI.;

Paris, 1895.

Annals of Ulster

(Vol.

I.),

ed.

by W. M. Hennessy.

Black Book of Limerick, ed. by

Book of Rights (Leabhar na

J.

MacCaffrey.

gceart), ed.

by

J.

Dublin, 1887.

Dublin, 1907.

O'Donovan.

Dublin,

1847.

Brennu-Njdlssaga, ed. by Finnur Jonsson.

Halle a

S.,

1908.

The Story of Burnt Njal, translated by Sir G. W. Dasent.

London,

1861.

(Several subsequent editions.)

Caithvilm Cellachain Caisil : The Victorious Career of Cellachan oj Cashel, ed. by A. Bugge. Christiania, 1905.

Chronicon Scotorum, ed. by W. M. Hennessy. London, 1866. Cogadh Gaedhealre Gallaibh (The War of the Gaedhil with the Gailf) ed. by J. H. Todd. London, 1867. Eyrbyggja Saga, ed. by H. Gering. Halle a S., 1897. (English translation by E. Magnusson and William Morris, London, 1892).

Fornaldar Sogur, ed. by C. C. Rafn.

Fornmanna

Sogur.

Copenhagen, 1829-30.

Copenhagen, 1825-1837.

Fdstbroethya Saga, ed. by V. Asmundarson, Reykjavik, 1899. Reykjavik, Gunnlaugs Saga Ormslungu, ed. by V. Asmundarson. 1911.

by C. R. Unger. Christiania, 1868. by V. Asmundarson. Reykjavik, 1893. Landndtnabok, ed. by V. Asmundarson. Reykjavik, 1909. Kendal, (English translation by Rev. T. Ellwood. Heimskringla, ed.

Kormaks Saga,

ed.

77

1898.)

THE VIKING PERIOD

78

On

the

Fomorians and

A. Bugge.

the

Norsemen (Duald Mac

Firbis), ed.

by

Christiania, 1905.

Origines Islandicae, Oxford, 1905.

ed.

by G. Vigfusson and

York Powell.

F.

Orkney inga Saga, ed. and tr. by J. Anderson. Edinburgh, 1873. Also tr. by Sir G. W. Dasent for the Rolls Series. London, 1894. Siurlunga Saga, ed. by G. Vigfusson.

Oxford, 1878. by V. Asmundarson.

Thorsteins

Saga Sithu-Hallssonar, ed. Reykjavik, 1902. Two of the Saxon Chronicles (Parallel), 2 Plummet. Oxford, 1892 and 1899.

by Earle and

Vols., ed.

II.

Bugge, A.

Contributions in Ireland.

to the

History of the Norsemen

Christiania,

1900.

Vesterlandenes Indflydelse paa Nordboernes i Vikingetiden. Christiania, 1905.

Collingwood, \V. G. Craigie,

Du

W.

A.

Chaillu, P. B.

Henderson, G. Jdnsson, F. Joyce, P.

...

W.

Scandinavian Britain.

London, 1908. The Icelandic Sagas. Cambridge, 1913. The Viking Age, 2 Vols. London, 1889. The Norse Influence on Celtic Scotland. Glasgow, 1910. also Old Norske Litteraturs Historic, (abridged). Copenhagen, 1907. A Social History of Ancient Ireland, 2 Vols.

Kermode,

P.

Dublin, 1913.

The Vikings in London, 1891.

Keary, C. F.

M. C.

Marstrander, C.

Manx

Crosses.

Bidrag

det

til

Irland.

G eschicht Literatur.

O'Curry, E.

...

On

the

Christendom.

London, 1907. Norske Sprogs Historic

Christiania,

The Vikings.

Mawer, A. Mogk, E.

Western

i

1912.

Cambridge,

1913.

der Norwegisch-Isldndischen Strassburg, 1904.

e

Manners and Customs of the Ancient by W. K. Sullivan). London,i873-

Irish (ed.

Materials the Manuscript Ancient Irish Historv. Dublin. 1861.

Lectures on

of

79

BIBLIOGRAPHY Steenstrup, J. C. H. R.

Normannerne

(Vols. II.

and

Copen-

III.).

hagen, 1876-82. Stokes, G. T.

...

Ireland and the Celtic Church

H.

J.

Dublin som Norsk By.

Vogt, L. J

(revised

by

London, 1907.

Lawlor).

Christiania,

1896.

The Whole Wtrks of Sir James Ware concerning Ireland, 2 Vols. (translated and continued by W. Harris). Dublin, 1764. Worsaae,

J. J.

A.

...

Minder om de Danske og Nordmaendene

i

CopenEngland, Skotland og Irland. hagen, 1851. (English translation: An Account of the Danes and Norwegians in England, Scotland and Ireland. London, 1852.)

H

Zimmer,

The

Church in Britain and Ireland, by A. Meyer). London, 1902.

Celtic

(translated

Reference has also been

Bugge,

A

made

to the following articles

:

Nordisk Sprog og Nordisk Nalionalitet i Irland Old(Aarboger for Nordisk

kyndighed og Historic, 1900, pp. 279-332). Bidrag Bidet Sidste Afsnit af Nordboernes Historie

W.

Craigie,

Curtis,

A.

...

E

i

Irland

Oldnordiske Ord

209 ...

and

Ostmen

the

Historical

(English ...

pp. 248-315.

de Gaeliske Sprog (Archi v for Nordisk Filologi. 1894.)

The English

Hull, E.

ibid., 1904.

i

Reriew,

in Ireland

XXIII.,

p.

ff.)

Irish Episodes in Icelandic Literature (Saga Book of the Viking Club. January, 1903.)

The Gael and Condition Period.

(

the Gall : Notes on the Social the Norse of Ireland during Ibid. April, 1908.)

Mawer,

A

The Scandinavian Kingdom of Nor thumbria.

Stokes,

W

A

Ibid.

Zimmer,

H

January, 1911.

few Parallels between the Old Norse and the Irish Literatures and Traditions (Arkiv fdr Nordisk Filologi. 1885.)

Ueber die fruhesten Beruhrungen der tren mil den Nordgermanen. (Sitzungsberichte der Preussichen Akademie der Kgl. Bd. I., pp. 279-317. Wissenschaften, Berlin,

1891.)

THE VIKING PERIOD

80

INDEX. Aedh

Finnliath, 10, 15.

Albann, brother of Ivarr the Boneless, Albdarm, son of Gothfrith, 22 n.

4.

Altar-ring, 53, 54.

aonach, 30, 67.

Armagh, 21-22,

48, 52, 55.

Art, Scandinavian influence on Irish, 20. Authr, wife of Olaf the White, 15, 48, 72 ; wife of Turgeis, 47.

Brian Borumha, 7-8, 29, 37-38. Brunanburh, battle of, 6, 24. Burial mounds, 12. Canterbury, 55-56. Carlingford I
Cork, 27, 30.

Danes, 2-4, 12, 13, 24-27, 50-1. dom-hringr, 53-4. Dublin, fortress built at, 2 seat of Scandinavian kings, 3, 5-7 ; Vikings driven from, 5 coins minted in, 19 early history, 21-3 as a trade centre, 30-1, 70-1. ;

;

;

epscop, 29.

Eric Blood-axe, Fingal, 8.

Finn

Gaill,

3 n.

7.

;

INDEX

81

Gaill-Gaedhil, 10-11, 38. gelt,

44.

Gleann Mama, battle

of, 8, 30, 54.

Gluniarainn, 17-8. Gnimcinnsiolla, 27. Gormflaith, wife of Brian Borutnha,

Glundubh,

8,

54

17,

;

wife of Niall

68.

Gothfrith, king of Dublin, 6, 24.

Heathenism, 47-8, 50-4. Hebrides,

17,

41

25, 36,

n.,

48-9.

Iceland, 13 n., 8, 57-8, 66, 71. Ivarr the boneless, 3-4, 11, 48 ; king of Limerick, 7, 24, 70 n., king of Waterford, 18. Ketill Flatnose, 48-9; Ketill Kilmashogue, battle of, 5.

"the

foolish," 49, 72.

lagtnainn, 41.

Lambey,

1.

7, 9, 23-5, 30-1. longphort, 2, 34, 35.

Limerick,

Mac Liag, 70 Maelsechnaill I (Malachy), 2, 11

;

Maelsechnafll II, 7-8, 17, 70.

Melkorka, 16, 31, 73. Morann, son of the king of Lewis, 25. Muirchertach of the Leather Cloaks, 6, 16-7. Niall Glundubh, 5, 68. Norsemen, passim. Northumbria, 5-7. Norway, 4, 16, 32, 59.

Olaf Cuaran (Sihtricsson), 6-7, 17, 34, 40, 53, 71 Godfreyson, 6, 26 Olaf the White, 3-4, 11-2, 15, 48 Trygvasson, 13-4. ;

;

;

Ostmen, 9, 26. Ota, wife of Turgeis,

2, 47.

THE VIKING PERIOD

82 Place-names, influence

Scandinavian influence on

Irish,

on Icelandic, 45-6.

prime-signing, 75.

Raghnall, grandson of Ivarr, 5, 25. Runic inscriptions, 27 ., 51-2. Settlers in Iceland, 13 n., 71, 72. Sihtric Silken Beard, 8, 19, 34, 54-5, 70.

Sigurd, earl of Orkney, 8, 15 n. Slave traffic, 32-3, 72-3. Story-telling in Iceland, 58-64 Sulcoit, battle of, 7.

Tengmonth, 22 n. thing, 22, 61, 67.

Turgeis, 1-2, 21, 23.

Waterford,

Wexford,

5, 9, 23,

22, 23, 30.

volva, 47.

York,

5, 6, 23.

25-6, 30.

;

in Ireland, 67-9.

27-8

;

Irish

i

uc

D

n

'

L Ib

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